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University  of  Illinois  Library 


L161 — H41 


BY 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER 


Published  by 

THE  A.  I.  ROOT  COMPANY 
Medina,  Ohio 
1915 

5  M  10-15 


Copyrighted  1915 

by  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller,  Marengo,  Ills. 
All  rights  reserved 


6  3* 


c 


J 


<2s*  C< 


PREFACE. 


In  the  year  1886  there  was  published  a  little  book  written 
by  me  entitled  “ A  Year  Among  the  Bees.”  In  1902  it  was  en¬ 
larged,  and  appeared  under  the  title  “  Forty  Years  Among  the 
Bees.”  In  preparation  for  the  present  edition  I  undertook  the 
revision  with  little  thought  of  the  number  of  changes  to  be 
made  or  the  number  of  pages  to  be  added  in  order  to  bring  it 
fully  up  to  date  (about  one-eighth  being  new  matter),  but  it  is 
hoped  that  the  changes  and  additions  may  make  it  of  more  value 
to  the  reader.  As  I  began  beekeeping  in  1861,  fifty  years  ago, 
the  present  name  seems  appropriate. 

However  much  some  personal  friends  may  like  the  brief 
biographical  sketch  that  occupies  the  first  few  pages,  others 
may  think  that  the  space  could  have  been  better  occupied. 
There  remains,  however,  the  privilege  of  skipping  those  few 
pages. 

Most  of  the  pictures  are  from  photographs  taken  by  my¬ 
self  or  under  my  immediate  supervision,  at  least  so  far  as  con¬ 
cerns  “touching  the  button.”  The  Eastman  Kodak  Co.  “did 
the  rest.” 

C.  C.  Miller. 

Marengo,  Ill.,  1911. 


INTRODUCTION 


One  morning,  five  or  six  of  us,  who  had  occupied  the  same 
bed-room  the  previous  night  during  the  North  American 
Convention  at  Cincinnati,  in  1882,  were  dressing  preparatory 
to  another  day’s  work.  Among  the  rest  were  Bingham,  of 
smoker  fame,  and  Vandervort,  the  foundation-mill  man.  I 
think  it  was  Prof.  Cook  who  was  chaffing  these  inventors, 
saying  something  to  the  effect  that  they  were  always  at  work 
studying  how  to  get  up  something  different  from  anybody  else, 
and,  if  they  needed  an  implement,  would  spend  a  dollar  and  a 
day’s  time  to  get  up  one  “  of  their  own  make,”  rather  than  pay 
25  cents  for  a  better  one  ready-made.  Vandervort,  who  sat 
contemplatively  rubbing  his  shins,  dryly  replied :  “  But  they 
take  a  world  of  comfort  in  it.”  I  think  all  beekeepers  are 
possessed  of  more  or  less  of  the  same  spirit.  Their  own  inven¬ 
tions  and  plans  seem  best  to  them,  and  in  many  cases  they  are 
right,  to  the  extent  that  two  of  them,  having  almost  opposite 
plans,  would  be  losers  to  exchange  plans. 

In  visiting  and  talking  with  other  beekeepers  I  am  generally 
prejudiced  enough  to  think  my  plans  are,  on  the  whole,  better 
than  theirs  and  yet  I  am  always  very  much  interested  to  know 
just  how  they  manage,  especially  as  to  the  little  details  of 
common  operations,  and  occasionally  I  find  something  so  mani¬ 
festly  better  than  my  own  way,  that  I  am  compelled  to  throw 
aside  my  prejudice  and  adopt  their  better  way.  I  suppose  there 
are  a  good  many  like  myself,  so  I  think  there  may  be  those  who 
will  be  interested  in  these  bee-talks,  wherein,  besides  talking 
something  of  the  past,  I  shall  try  to  tell  honestly  just  how  I  do, 
talking  in  a  familiar  manner,  without  feeling  obliged  to  say 
“  we  ”  when  I  mean  “  I.”  Indeed,  I  shall  claim  the  privilege  of 
putting  in  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person  as  often  as  I  please; 
and  if  the  printer  runs  out  of  big  I’s  toward  the  last  of  the 
book,  he  can  put  in  little  i’s. 


Moreover,  I  don’t  mean  to  undertake  to  lay  down  a 
methodical  system  of  beekeeping,  whereby  one  with  no  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  business  can  learn  in  “  twelve  short  lessons  ”  all 
about  it,  but  will  just  talk  about  some  of  the  things  that  I  think 
would  interest  you,  if  we  were  sitting  down  together  for  a 
familiar  chat.  I  take  it  you  are  familiar  with  the  good  books 
and  periodicals  that  we  as  beekeepers  are  blest  with,  and  in 
some  things,  if  not  most,  you  are  a  better  beekeeper  than  I; 
so  you  have  my  full  permission,  as  you  go  from  page  to  page, 
to  make  such  remarks  as,  “  Oh,  how  foolish!  ”  “  I  know  a  good 
deal  better  way  than  that,”  etc.,  but  I  hope  some  may  find  a 
hint  here  and  there  that  may  prove  useful. 

I  have  no  expectation  nor  desire  to  write  a  complete  treatise 
on  beekeeping.  Many  important  matters  connected  with  the 
art  I  do  not  mention  at  all,  because  they  have  not  come  within 
my  own  experience.  Others  that  have  come  within  my  experi¬ 
ence  I  do  not  mention,  because  I  suppose  the  reader  to  be 
already  familiar  with  them.  I  merely  try  to  talk  about  such 
things  as  I  think  a  brother  beekeeper  would  be  most  interested 
in  if  he  should  remain  with  me  during  the  year. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


BIOGRAPHICAL — BOYHOOD  DAYS. 

Fifty  miles  east  of  Pittsburg  lies  the  little  village  of 
Ligonier,  Pa.,  where  I  was  born  June  10,  1831.  Twenty  miles 
away,  across  the  mountains,  lies  the  ill-fated  city  of  Johnstown, 
where  my  family  lived  later  on.  The  scenery  about  Ligonier 
is  of  such  a  charming  character  that  in  recent  years  it  has 
become  a  summer  resort,  a  branch  railroad  terminating  at  that 
point.  Looking  down  upon  the  town  from  the  south  is  a  hill 
so  steep  that  one  wonders  how  it  is  possible  to  cultivate  it, 
while  between  it  and  the  town  flows  a  little  stream  called  the 
Lovalhanna,  with  a  milldam  upon  whose  broad  bosom  I  spent 
many  a  happy  winter  hour  gliding  over  the  icy  surface  on  the 
glittering  steel;  and  in  the  hot  and  lazy- summer  days,  with 
trouser-legs  rolled  up  to  the  highest,  I  waded  all  about  the  dam, 
the  bubbles  from  its  oozy  bed  running  up  my  legs  in  a  creepy 
way,  while  1  watched  with  keen  eyes  for  the  breathing-hole  of 
some  snapping  turtle  hidden  beneath  the  mud,  then  cautiously 
felt  my  way  to  its  tail,  lifted  it  and  held  it  at  arm’s  length  for 
fear  of  its  vicious  jaws,  and  with  no  little  effort  carried  it 
snapping  and  struggling  to  the  shore.  Ever  in  sight  was  the 
mountain,  abounding  in  chestnuts,  rattlesnakes,  and  huckle¬ 
berries,  and  I  distinctly  recall  how  strange  it  seemed,  when  all 
was  still  about  me,  to  hear  the  roar  of  the  wind  in  the  tree-tops 
on  the  mountain  eight  or  ten  miles  away. 

EARLY  EDUCATION. 

My  earliest  opportunities  for  education  were  not  of  the 
best.  Public  schools  were  not  then  what  they  are  to-day,  for 
they  were  just  coming  into  existence.  I  recall  that  we  children, 
upon  hearing  of  a  free  school  in  a  neighboring  village,  decided 
that  it  must  be  a  very  fine  thing,  for  what  else  could  a  free 


10 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


school  be  than  one  in  which  the  scholars  were  free  to  whisper 
to  their  hearts’  content?  The  teachers,  in  too  many  cases, 
seemed  to  be  chosen  because  of  their  lack  of  fitness  for  any 
other  calling.  The  one  concerning  whom  I  have  perhaps  the 
earliest  recollction  was  a  man  who  distinguished  himself  by 
having  a  large  family  of  boys  named  in  order  after  the  presi¬ 
dents,  as  far  as  the  United  States  had  at  that  time  progressed 
in  the  matter  of  presidents,  and  who  extinguished  himself  by 
falling  in  a  well  one  day  when  he  was  drunk. 

But  with  the  advent  of  free  schools  came  rapid  improve¬ 
ment,  and  I  made  fair  progress  in  the  rudiments,  even  though 
the  advancement  of  each  pupil  was  entirely  independent  of  that 
of  every  other.  Indeed,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  class  in 
arithmetic.  Each  one  did  his  u  sums  ”  on  his  slate,  and  sub¬ 
mitted  them  to  the  “  master  ”  for  approval,  the  master  doing 
such  sums  as  were  beyond  the  ability  of  the  pupil,  in  some  cases 
a  more  advanced  pupil  doing  this  work  in  place  of  the  teacher. 
Tom  Cole  was  a  beneficiary  of  mine,  and  every  time  1  did  a 
sum  for  him  he  gave  me  an  apple.  I  do  not  recall  that  I  lacked 
for  apples,  and  apples  then  and  there  were  worth  I2V2  cents 
a  bushel. 


PARENTS. 

i  . 

When  ten  years  old  I  suffered  a  loss  in  the  death  of  my 
father,  the  greatness  of  which  loss  I  was  at  that  time  too  young 
fully  to  realize.  He  was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church, 
but  for  one  of  those  days  very  tolerant  of  the  views  of  others. 
He  was  most  lovable  in  character,  and  the  wish  has  been  with 
me  all  through  my  life  that  I  might  be  as  good  a  man  as  my 
father.  I  think  he  was  chiefly  of  English  extraction,  although 
his  ancestry  had  for  many  generations  lived  in  this  country. 
His  father  had  tried  to  make  a  tailor  of  him,  but  he  did  not 
take  kindly  to  that  business,  and  became  a  physician. 

My  mother  was  German,  her  father  and  mother  having 
both  come  from  the  fatherland.  Like  many  others  at  that  day, 
her  education  never  went  beyond  the  ability  to  read,  and  I  am 
not  sure  that  her  reading  ever  went  outside  of  the  Bible.  Possi¬ 
bly  confining  her  reading  to  so  good  a  book  was  one  reason  why 
she  was  a  woman  of  remarkably  good  judgment,  and  to  her 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


11 


credit  be  it  said  that  she  spared  no  pains  to  carry  out  the  dying1 
wish  of  my  father  that  the  children  should  be  allowed  to  secure 
an  education.  She  was  a  faithful  Methodist;  and,  although 
belonging  to  the  two  different  churches,  my  parents  usually 
went  to  church  together,  first  to  one  church  and  then  to  the 
other. 

When  my  mother  married  the  second  time,  she  married  a 
Methodist,  and  as  the  children  came  to  years  of  discretion  they 


Fig.  1 — Home  of  the  Author  ( from  the  Southwest). 


were  impartially  divided  between  the  two  denominations,  three 
to  each  (there  were  six  of  us — myself  and  five  sisters). 

Two  years  were  taken  out  of  my  school  life  to  clerk  in  a 
country  store  three  miles  away.  For  the  first  year  I  got  twenty- 
four  dollars  and  board,  my  mother  doing  my  washing.  The 
second  year  I  was  advanced  to  fifty  dollars. 

BEGINS  STUDY  OF  MEDICINE. 

Then  I  undertook  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  tutelage 
of  the  leading — I  am  not  sure  but  he  was  the  only: — village 
physician.  The  Latin  terms  met  in  my  reading  tripped  me 


12 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


badly,  and  by  some  means  I  got  it  into  my  head  that  if  I  could 
spend  three  months  at  the  village  academy  I  might  be  so  good 
a  Latin  scholar  that  my  troubles  would  be  overcome.  Dr. 
Cummins  was  very  insistent  that  it  was  vital  for  my  strength 
of  character  that  having  begun  to  read  medicine  I  should  not 
be  weak  enough  to  be  dissuaded  from  my  purpose  by  a  little 
thing  like  the  lack  of  Latin,  and  if  I  must  have  the  Latin  I  could 
work  half  time  at  it,  spending  the  other  half  in  his  office.  Pos¬ 
sibly  he  needed  an  office  boy. 

ATTENDS  ACADEMY. 

But  I  was  equally  insistent  that  I  must  have  one  uninter¬ 
rupted  term  at  the  academy,  and  at  it  I  went,  taking  up  other 
studies  as  well  as  Latin.  When  the  term  was  completed  I  felt 
pretty  certain  that  two  more  terms  were  needed  to  make  a 
complete  scholar  of  me,  and  by  the  time  I  had  finished  the  two 
more  terms  1  had  settled  into  the  determination  that  I  would 
not  stop  short  of  a  college  course.  A  college  course,  however, 
took  money,  little  of  which  I  had.  At  my  father’s  death  it  was 
supposed  he  had  left  a  fair  property,  but  it  was  in  the  hands  of 
others,  and  by  some  means  it  soon  melted  away.  I  kept  on  at 
the  academy,  making  part  of  my  college  course  there. 

ENTERS  COLLEGE. 

While  yet  in  my  teens  I  taught  school  in  Shellsburg,  and 
afterward  in  Johnstown.  I  entered  Jefferson  College  at  Can- 
onsburg,  Pa.,  which  college  was  afterward  united  with  Wash¬ 
ington  College,  and  from  there  went  to  Union  College,  at 
Schenectady,  N.  Y.  This  last  undertaking  was  a  bit  reckless, 
for  when  I  arrived  at  Schenectady  I  had  only  about  thirty 
dollars,  with  nothing  to  rely  on  except  what  I  might  pick  up  by 
the  way  to  help  me  to  finish  up  my  last  two  years  in  college. 
I  had  a  horror  of  being  in  debt,  and  so  was  on  the  alert  for  any 
work,  no  matter  what  its  nature,  so  it  was  honest,  by  which  I 
could  earn  something  to  help  carry  me  through. 

WORKS  WAY  THROUGH  COLLEGE. 

I  had  learned  just  enough  of  ornamental  penmanship  to 
be  able  to  write  German  text,  and  so  got  $44.00  for  filling  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


13 


names  in  88  diplomas  at  the  two  commencements.  I  taught 
a  singing-school ;  I  worked  in  Prof.  Jackson’s  garden  at  seven 
and  a  half  cents  an  hour;  raised  a  crop  of  potatoes;  clerked  at 
a  town  election;  peddled  maps;  rang  one  of  the  college  bells; 
and,  as  it  was  optional  with  the  students  whether  they  taught 
or  studied  during  the  third  term  senior,  I  got  $100.00  for 
teaching  during  that  term  in  an  academy  at  Delhi,  N.  Y. 
Neither  were  my  studies  slighted  during  my  course,  which  was 
shown  by  my  taking  the  highest  honor  attainable,  Phi  Beta 
Kappa,  which,  however,  was  equally  taken  by  a  number  of  my 
class. 


Fig.  2 — Peabody  Honey -Ext factor 

I  secured  my  diploma,  allowing  me  to  write  A.B.  after  my 
name,  and  left  college  with  fifty  dollars  more  in  my  pocket  than 
when  I  arrived  there.  It  was  not,  however,  so  much  what  I 
earned  as  what  I  didn’t  spend  that  helped  me  through.  I  kept 
a  strict  cash  account,  and  if  I  paid  three  cents  postage  on  a 
letter  or  one  cent  for  a  steel  pen  or  two  blocks  of  matches,  it 
was  carefully  entered,  and  probably  a  good  many  cents  were 
saved  because  I  knew  if  I  spent  them  I  must  put  it  down  in 
black  ink. 


14 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


CHEAP  BOARD-BILLS. 

The  item  that  gave  me  the  greatest  chance  for  economy 
was  my  board-bill.  I  boarded  myself  all  the  time  I  was  in 
college.  My  board  cost  me  thirty-five  cents  a  week  or  less  most 
of  the  time.  The  use  of  wheat  helped  to  keep  down  the  bill. 
A  bushel  of  whole  wheat  thoroughly  boiled  will  do  a  lot  of 
filling  up.  The  last  ten  weeks,  with  less  horror  of  debt  before 
me,  I  became  extravagant,  and  my  board  cost  me  sixty-six  ana 
a  half  cents  a  week. 

In  the  long  run,  however,  I  paid  dear  enough  for  my  board, 
for  its  quality,  together  with  a  lack  of  exercise,  so  affected  my 
health  that  I  never  fully  recovered  from  it.  Strange  to  say,  I 
was  so  ignorant  that  I  did  not  know  exercise  was  essential  to 
health.  That  was  before  the  day  of  athletics  in  college. 

STUDY  AND  PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 

After  teaching  a  term  in  Geneseo  (N.  Y.)  Academy,  I  took 
up  the  study  of  medicine  in  Johnstown,  Pa.,  attended  lectures 
in  Michigan  University,  at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  and  received  the 
degree  of  M.D.  I  practiced  medicine  a  short  time  in  Earlville, 
Ill.,  and  went  to  Marengo,  Ill.,  for  the  same  purpose,  in  July, 
1856. 

It  did  not  take  more  than  a  year  for  me  to  find  out  that  I 
had  not  a  sufficient  stock  of  health  myself  to  take  care  of  that 
of  others,  especially  as  I  was  morbidly  anxious  lest  some  lack 
of  judgment  on  my  part  should  prove  a  serious  matter  with 
some  one  under  my  care.  So  with  much  regret  I  gave  up  my 
chosen  profession. 


TEACHES  AND  TRAVELS. 

In  1857  I  abandoned  a  life  of  single  blessedness,  marrying 
Mrs.  Helen  M.  White.  I  spent  some  years  in  teaching  vocal  and 
instrumental  music,  and  was  for  several  years  principal  of  the 
Marengo  public  school.  Before  devoting  my  entire  time  to 
beekeeping,  I  was  for  one  year  principal  of  the  Woodstock 
school,  most  of  the  time  driving  there  thirteen  miles  each  morn¬ 
ing,  and  returning  to  Marengo  at  night. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


15 


I  traveled  two  years  for  the  music  house  of  Root  &  Cady, 
making  a  specialty  of  introducing  the  teaching  of  singing  in 
public  schools.  In  1872  I  went  to  Cincinnati,  where  I  spent 
six  months  helping  to  get  up  the  first  of  the  May  musical  festi¬ 
vals  under  the  direction  of  Theodore  Thomas.  At  the  close  of 
the  festival  I  began  work  for  the  Mason  &  Hamlin  Organ  Co. 
at  their  Chicago  house. 

FIRST  BEES. 

To  go  back.  July  5,  1861 — I  was  in  Chicago  at  the  time 
— a  swarm  of  bees  passing  over  Marengo  took  in  their  line  of 
march  the  house  where  my  wife  was.  She  was  a  woman  of 
remarkable  energy  and  executive  ability,  generally  accomplish¬ 
ing  whatever  she  undertook,  and  she  undertook  to  stop  that 
swarm.  Whether  the  water  and  dirt  she  threw  among  them 
had  any  effect  on  the  bees  I  do  not  know,  but  I  know  she  got 
the  bees,  hiving  them  in  a  full-sized  sugar-barrel. 

In  her  eagerness  to  have  the  bees  properly  housed — or 
barreled — she  could  not  wait  the  slow  motion  of  the  bees,  but 
taking  them  up  by  double  handfuls  she  threw  them  where  she 
wanted  them  to  go.  In  so  doing  she  received  five  or  six  stings 
on  her  hands,  which  swelled  up  and  were  so  painful  as  to  make 
it  a  sick-abed  affair.  This  was  a  matter  much  to  be  regretted, 
for  ever  after  a  sting  was  much  the  same  as  a  case  of  erysipelas, 
preventing  her  from  having  anything  whatever  to  do  witli 
handling  bees  except  in  a  case  of  extremity. 

Previous  to  that  time  I  had  not  been  interested  to  any  great 
extent  in  bees.  When  a  small  boy  I  had  captured  a  bumble¬ 
bees’  nest  and  put  it  in  a  little  box,  but  I  do  not  recall  that 
there  was  a  remarkable  drop  in  the  price  of  honey  on  account 
of  there  being  thrown  upon  the  market  a  large  amount  of  honey 
produced  by  those  bumblebees. 

BEE-PALACE. 

When  I  was  a  little  older  I  remember  helping  my  stepfather 
carry  home,  one  night,  a  colony  of  bees  in  a  box  hive  ( movable- 
comb  hives  were  not  yet  invented)  the  colony  being  intended  to 
stock  a  “  bee-palace.”  This  bee-palace  was  a  rather  imposing 


16  FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 

structure.  1  think  it  cost  ten  dollars.  It  was  large  enough  to 
contain  about  four  colonies  and  was  raised  about  two  feet  high 
on  four  legs.  On  the  top  was  a  hole  over  which  the  box  hive  was 
placed,  with  the  expectation  that  the  bees  would  build  down  and 
occupy  the  entire  space.  The  bottom  was  made  very  steep,  so 
that  wax-worms  falling  upon  it  would,  however  unwillingly,  be 
obliged  to  roll  out !  When  a  nice  piece  of  honey  was  wanted  for 
the  table,  all  that  was  necessary  was  to  take  a  plate  and  knife 
and  cut  it  out,  a  door  for  that  purpose  being  in  one  side  of  the 


Fig.  3 — Wide  Frame 


palace.  The  plate  and  knife  were  never  called  into  requisition, 
the  magnitude  of  the  task  of  filling  that  palace  being  so  great 
that  the  bees  concluded  to  die  rather  than  to  undertake  it. 
Many  years  after,  I  saw  at  the  home  of  an  intelligent  farmer- 
near  Marengo  the  exact  counterpart  of  that  bee-palace,  which 
an  oily-tongued  vender  had  just  induced  him  to  purchase. 

Notwithstanding  my  utter  ignorance  of  bees,  T  began  to  feel 
some  immediate  interest  in  the  bees  in  that  barrel.  I  put  them 
in  the  cellar,  and  at  some  time  in  the  winter  I  went  to  a  bee¬ 
keeping  neighbor,  James  F.  Lester,  and  with  no  little  anxiety 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


17 


told  him  that  some  disease  had  appeared  among  my  bees,  for  ] 
found  under  them  a  considerable  quantity  of  matter  much 
resembling  coarsely  ground  coffee.  He  quieted  my  fears  by 
telling  me  it  was  all  right,  and  nothing  more  than  the  cappings 
that  the  bees  had  gnawed  away  to  get  at  the  honey  in  the  sealed 
combs. 

In  the  spring  I  sawed  away  that  portion  of  the  barrel  not 
occupied  by  the  bees,  and  when  the  time  for  surplus  arrived  I 
bored  holes  in  the  top  of  the  hive  and  put  a  good-sized  box 
over.  There  were  holes  in  the  bottom  of  the  box  to  correspond 
with  holes  in  the  hive.  I  made  three  box  hives,  after  the 
Quinby  pattern,  with  special  arrangement  for  surplus  boxes, 
and  they  were  well  made. 

u  TAKING  UP  ”  BEES. 

When  the  bees  swarmed  I  hived  them  in  one  of  the  new 
hives,  and  later  on  u  took  up  ”  the  bees  in  the  barrel.  Alto¬ 
gether  I  got  93  pounds  of  honey  from  the  barrel,  and  am  a  little 
surprised  to  find  it  set  down  at  I2V2  cents  a  pound.  Perhaps 
butter  was  low  just  then,  for  in  those  days  it  was  a  common 
thing  for  honey  to  follow  the  price  of  butter. 

I  left  one  of  the  hives  with  a  farmer,  and  he  hived  a  prime 
swarm  in  it,  for  which  I  paid  him  five  dollars.  In  the  remain¬ 
ing  hive  I  had  a  weak  swarm  hived,  paying  a  dollar  for  the 
swarm.  I  bought  a  colony  of  bees  besides  these,  paying  $7.00 
for  hive  and  bees. 

WINTERING  UPSIDE  DOWN. 

The  bees  were  wintered  in  the’  cellar,  and  according  to 
Quinby’s  instructions  the  hives  were  turned  upside  down.  That 
gave  ample  ventilation,  for  when  the  hives  were  reversed  the 
entire  upper  surface  was  open,  all  being  closed  below.  I  doubt 
that  any  better  means  of  ventilation  could  be  devised  for  winter¬ 
ing  bees  in  the  cellar.  There  is  abundant  opportunity  for  the 
free  entrance  of  air  into  the  hive,  without  anything  to  force  a 
current  through  it.  Equally  good  is  t  lie  ventilation  when  all  is 
closed  at  the  top  and  the  whole  bottom  is  open,  as  when  the 
hives  without  any  bottom-boards  are  piled  up  in  such  manner 


18 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 

that  the  bottom  of  a  hive  rests  upon  the  top  of  a  hive  below  it 
at  one  side,  and  upon  another  hive  at  the  other  side,  and  the 
ventilation  is  perhaps  as  good  when  there  is  a  bottom-board  so 
deep  that  there  is  a  space  of  two  inches  or  more  under  the 
bottom-bars. 


Fig.  4 — Heddon  Super 
SEASON  of  1863. 

The  four  colonies  wintered  through,  and  I  find  charged  to 
the  bees’  account  for  1863  three  movable-frame  hives  at  $2.00 
each,  three  box  hives  at  $1.00  for  the  three,  and  some  surplus 
boxes  at  10  to  20  cents  each.  These  surplus  boxes  held  from  6 
to  10  pounds  each,  some  of  them  having  glass  on  two  sides,  and 
some  having  glass  on  four  sides.  Small  pieces  of  comb  were 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


19 


fastened  in  the  top  of  each  box  as  starters.  I  also  bought  an¬ 
other  colony  of  bees  at  $7.00,  and  I  bought  Quinby’s  text-book, 
“  Mysteries  of  Beekeeping  Explained.”  I  think  I  had  previous¬ 
ly  read  this  as  a  borrowed  book.  I  got  82  pounds  of  honey, 
worth  15  cents  a  pound. 

I  began  the  year  1864  with  seven  colonies,  which  had  cost 
me  $23.39 ;  that  is,  up  to  that  time  I  had  paid  out  $23.39  more 
for  the  bees  than  I  had  taken  in  from  them,  reckoning  interest 
at  ten  per  cent,  the  ruling  rate  at  that  time.  Besides  getting 
new  hives  that  year,  I  bought  a  colony  of  bees  for  $5.00,  and 
twenty  empty  combs  at  15  cents  each.  I  took  54  pounds  of 
honey,  39  pounds  of  it  being  entered  at  30  cents,  the  balance  at 
25  cents. 

The  year  1865  opened  with  nine  colonies,  and  the  total 
crop  for  the  season  was  10  pounds  of  honey.  Alas !  that  it  was 
so  small,  for  that  year  it  was  worth  35  cents  a  pound. 

FIRST  ITALIANS. 

In  1866  I  got  my  first  Italian  queen,  paying  R.  R.  Murphy 
$6.00  for  her,  and  the  following  year  I  paid  $10.00  for  another 
to  Mrs.  Ellen  S.  Tupper,  who  was  at  one  time  editor  of  a  bee- 
journal.  The  crop  for  1866  was  100%  pounds  of  honey,  which 
that  year  was  worth  30  cents. 

GETTING  EVEN. 

I  took  131  pounds  of  honey  in  1867,  worth  25  cents  a 
pound,  and  this  for  the  first  time  brought  the  balance  on  the 
right  side  of  the  ledger,  for  I  began  the  season  of  1868  with 
seven  colonies  and  had  $10.40  ahead  besides.  It  will  be  seen, 
however,  that  bad  wintering  had  been  getting  in  its  work,  for 
there  were  two  colonies  less  than  there  were  three  years  before. 

There  was  certainly  nothing  brilliant  in  being  able  after 
seven  years  of  beekeeping  to  be  able  to  count  only  two  colonies 
more  than  the  total  number  I  had  started  with,  together  with 
the  four  I  had  bought.  But  there  was  a  fascination  in  beekeep¬ 
ing  for  me,  and  it  is  very  likely  I  should  have  kept  right  on, 
even  if  it  necessitated  buying  a  fresh  start  each  year.  At  any 
rate,  my  friends  could  no  longer  accuse  me  of  squandering 


20 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


money  on  my  bees,  for  there  was  that  $10.40,  and  the  time  I  had 
spent  with  the  bees  was  just  as  well  spent  in  that  way  as  in 
some  other  form  of  amusement.  Indeed,  at  that  time  I  am  not 
sure  that  I  had  much  thought  that  I  was  ever  to  get  any  profit 
out  of  the  business.  Certainly  I  had  no  thought  that  it  would 
ever  become  a  vocation  instead  of  an  avocation. 


Fig.  5 — T  Super 

GETS  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 

In  18G9,  while  away  from  home,  I  came  across  a  copy,  of 
The  American  Bee  Journal.  I  subscribed  for  it,  and  also  ob¬ 
tained  the  first  volume  of  the  same  journal.  That  first  volume, 
containing  the  series  of  articles  by  the  Baron  of  Berlepsch  on 
the  Dzierzon  theory,  lias  been  of  more  service  to  me  than  any 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


21 


other  volume  of  any  bee-journal  published,  and  to  this  day  I 
probably  refer  to  it  oftener  than  to  any  other  volume  that  is  as 
much  as  two  or  three  years  old. 

Among'  the  most  frequent  contributors  to  The  American 
Bee  Journal  when  I  subscribed  for  it  were  H.  Alley,  D.  H. 
Coggshall,  C.  Dadant,  E.  Gallup,  A.  Grimm,  J.  L.  Hubbard, 
J.  M.  Marvin,  M.  Quinby,  A.  I.  Root,  J.  H.  Thomas,  and  J.  F. 
Tillinghast,  most  of  which  are  well  known  names  a  third  of  a 
century  later.  G.  M.  Doolittle  did  not  appear  on  the  scene  till 
late  in  1870. 

A.  I.  Root,  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  Novice,  was  then 
just  as  full  of  schemes  as  he  has  been  since,  and  was  trying  a 
hot-bed  arrangement  for  bees,  and  in  my  first  communication 
to  The  American  Bee  Journal,  in  1870,  I  wrote,  “  I  am  waiting 
patiently  for  Novice  to  invent  a  machine  for  making  straight 
worker-comb;  for  as  yet  I  have  found  no  way  of  securing  all 
worker-comb,  except  to  have  it  built  by  a  weak  colony.”  At 
that  time  he  probably  little  thought  that  he  would  come  so  near 
fulfilling  my  expectations,  sending  out  tons  upon  tons  of  foun¬ 
dation. 


ATTEMPT  AT  COMB  FOUNDATION. 

I  made  some  attempts  myself  in  that  line,  simply  with 
plain  sheets  of  wax.  I  poured  a  little  melted  wax  into  a  pail 
of  hot  water,  and  when  it  cooled  I  took  the  sheet  of  wax  and 
gave  it  to  the  bees.  It  was  not  an  immense  success.  I  dipped 
a  piece  of  writing  paper  into  melted  wax,  and  gave  to  the  bees 
in  an  upper  corner  of  a  frame  where  no  brood  was  reared,  and 
for  years  you  could  hold  that  frame  up  to  the  light  and  looking 
through  the  comb  see  the  writing  that  was  on  the  paper.  Then 
when  foundation  came  upon  the  market,  what  a  boon  it  was! 

VISITS  A.  I.  ROOT. 

In  1870  I  made  my  first  visit  to  Medina,  then  several  miles 
from  a  railroad  station.  Mr.  Root  was  then  a  jeweler;  his  shop 
had  been  burned  up,  and  his  house  (not  a  large  one  at  that 
time)  was  doing  duty  as  both  shop  and  dwelling.  Just  then  he 
was  full  of  the  idea  of  having  maple  sap  run  directly  from  the 


22 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


trees  to  the  hives.  I  showed  him  how  to  use  rotten  wood  for 
smoking  bees,  and  he  thought  it  a  great  improvement  over  the 
plan  he  had  been  using.  I  do  not  now  remember  what  his  plan 
had  been,  but  hardly  a  tobacco-pipe,  for  I  have  heard  that  he 
has  some  objections  to  the  use  of  tobacco.  Pleased  with  his 
newly  acquired  accomplishment,  I  had  hardly  left  town  when  he 
tried  its  use,  and  succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  a  hive  by  means  of 
the  sawdust  on  the  ground.  Whether  it  was  burned  up  or 
merely  put  in  jeopardy  I  do  not  now  remember.  He  did  not 
send  me  the  bill  for  it. 

At  that  time  he  knew  nothing  of  a  bee-smoker,  and  neither 
of  us  then  thought  that  in  the  next  third  of  a  century  he  would 
send  out  in  the  world  three  hundred  thousand  of  them. 

ADOPTS  18  X  9  FRAME. 

In  1870  I  made  a  change  in  hives.  I  cannot  now  tell  the 
size  of  frames  I  had  been  using,  but  I  think  the  frames  were 
considerably  deeper  than  the  regular  Langstroth.  I  say  “  the 
regular  Langstroth,”  for  in  reality  all  movable  frames  are  Lang- 
stroths,  but  the  regular  size  is  17%  x  9%.  J.  Yandervort,  a 
man  well  knewn  among  the  older  beekeepers  as  a  manufacturer 
of  foundation-mills,  had  at  that  time  a  machine  shop  in  Maren¬ 
go,  and  upon  his  moving  away  in  1870  1  bought  out  his  slock 
of  hives.  The  frames  were  18  x  9,  %  of  an  inch  longer  than  the 
standard  size,  and  %  of  an  inch  shallower. 

CHANGE  TO  REGULAR  LANGSTROTH. 

So  little  a  difference  in  measurement  could  make  no  appre¬ 
ciable  difference  in  practical  results,  yet  after  going  on  until  I 
had  three  or  four  thousand  of  such  frames,  the  inconvenience 
of  having  an  odd  size  was  felt  to  be  so  great  that  I  felt  I  must 
change  so  as  to  be  in  line  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  be 
able  to  order  hives,  frames,  etc.,  such  as  were  on  the  regular  list 
without  being  obliged  to  have  everything  made  to  order.  The 
change  to  the  regular  size  cost  a  good  deal  of  money,  and  a  good 
deal  more  in  labor  and  trouble,  extending  over  several  years. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


23 


PEABODY  EXTRACTOR. 

in  that  same  year,  1870,  I  got  a  honey-extractor.  With 
much  interest  I  made  my  first  attempt  at  extracting,  the 
supreme  moment  of  interest  coming  when  after  having  given 
perhaps  200  revolutions  to  the  extractor  I  looked  beneath  to 
see  how  much  honey  had  run  into  the  pan  beneath.  Very 
vividly  I  remember  my  keen  chagrin  and  disappointment  when 
I  found  that  not  a  drop  of  honey  had  fallen.  The  machine  was 
one  of  the  first  put  on  the  market,  a  Peabody  extractor  (Fig. 


Fig.  6. — Ileddon  Slat  Honey-board. 

2),  the  entire  can  revolving,  and  it  had  not  occurred  to  me  that 
the  same  force  that  threw  the  honey  out  of  the  comb  would  keep 
it  against  the  outer  wall  of  the  can  so  long  as  it  kept  in  motion. 
When  the  can  stopped  revolving,  a  fair  stream  of  honey  ran 
down  into  the  pan,  and  I  resumed  my  normal  manner  of  breath¬ 
ing. 

TOO  RAPID  INCREASE. 

I  began  the  season  of  1871)  with  eight  colonoies,  increased 
to  19,  and  extracted  about  400  pounds  of  honey.  This  warmed 


24 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


up  my  zeal  considerably.  In  the  winter  I  lost  three  colonies, 
so  I  commenced  the  season  of  1871  with  16  colonies,  took  408 
pounds  of  honey,  and,  the  season  being  favorable,  I  increased 
without  much  difficulty  until  I  reached  thirty  or  forty,  and  I 
thought  it  would  be  a  nice  thing  to  have  an  even  fifty,  so  I 
reached  about  that  number,  for  so  many  of  them  were  weak, 
that  I  am  not  sure  exactly  how  many  it  would  be  fair  to  call 
them.  I  fed  them  some  quite  late,  too  late  for  them  to  seal  over, 
and  they  were  put  into  the  cellar  with  little  anxiety  as  to  the 
result. 


DISASTROUS  WINTERING. 

In  the  winter  they  became  quite  uneasy,  and  February  11 
I  took  out  five  colonies,  which  flew  a  little,  and  then  I  put  them 
back.  They  continued  to  become  more  and  more  uneasy  and  to 
be  affected  with  diarrhoea,  and,  February  22, 1  took  them  all  out 
and  found  only  twenty-three  alive.  They  flew  a  little,  but  it 
was  not  warm  enough  for  a  good  cleansing  flight;  and  soon 
after  there  came  a  cold  storm  with  snow  a  foot  deep,  and  by 
April  1  had  only  three  colonies  living,  two  of  which  I  united, 
making  a  total  of  two  left  from  the  forty-five  or  fifty. 

It  was  some  comfort-  to  know  that  nearly  every  one  lost 
heavily  that  winter,  but  what  encouragement  was  there  to  con¬ 
tinue  under  such  adverse  circumstances'?  I  was  on  the  road 
traveling  for  Root  &  Cady  all  the  time,  with  only  an  occasional 
visit  to  my  bees,  and  no  certainty  of  being  there  upon  any  par¬ 
ticular  date,  and  evidently  with  no  great  knowledge  of  the  bus¬ 
iness  if  I  had  been  home  all  the  time.  To  be  sure,  I  ma}^  have 
got  enough  money  so  as  to  feel  that  there  was  no  particular 
money  loss,  but  after  eleven  years  of  beekeeping,  and  after  hav¬ 
ing  bought,  first  and  last,  quite  a  number  of  colonies,  here  I 
was  with  only  two  colonies  to  show  for  all  my  efforts ! 

I  do  not  remember,  however,  that  any  question  as  to  con¬ 
tinuance  occurred  to  me  at  that  time.  Perhaps  I  didn’t  know 
enough  to  be  discouraged.  Instead  of  selling  off  the  two  colo¬ 
nies  and  going  out  of  the  business,  I  bought  five  more  colonies 
early  in  April.  They  were  in  box  hives,  and  one  of  them  died 
before  the  season  warmed  up,  so  I  began  the  season  of  1872 
with  six  colonies.  These  I  increased  to  nineteen,  and  I  think  I 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


25 


took  no  honey.  With  the  number  of  empty  combs  I  had  on 
hand,  there  was  nothing  to  exult  over  in  this  increase,  especial¬ 
ly  as  the  colonies  were  not  in  the  best  condition  as  to  strength. 

WINTER  IN  CINCINNATI. 

The  thousands  who  have  been  charmed  by  the  delightful 
music  rendered  under  the  guidance  of  the  baton  of  that  prince 
of  conductors,  Theodore  Thomas,  at  the  May  Music  Festivals 
held  in  successive  years  in  Cincinnati,  will  have  no  difficulty  in 


'Fig.  7 — Two  Carrying  with  Rope. 

understanding  that  a  congenial  although  somewhat  arduous 
occupation  was  afforded  me  when  the  managers  offered  me  the 
position  of  “  official  agent,”  charged  with  doing  the  thousand 
and  one  things  needed  to  be  done  to  carry  out  their  wishes  in 
preparing  for  the  first  of  these  festivals.  I  began  this  work  in 
1872,  some  six  months  in  advance  of  the  time  for  the  Festival, 
making  my  abode  in  Cincinnati,  although  I  still  called  Marengo 
my  home.  In  the  winter  I  went  back  home,  put  the  bees  in  the 
cellar  December  7,  and  then  locking  up  cellar  and  house  for  the 
winter  I  took  my  wife  and  child  to  Cincinnati,  from  which 
place  we  did  not  return  till  late  the  following  May. 


26 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


The  bees  were  left  entirely  to  their  own  devices  throughout 
the  winter.  In  the  latter  part  of  March  the  weather  at  Cincin¬ 
nati  became  quite  warm,  and  I  wrote  to  my  beekeeping  friend, 
Mr.  Lester,  to  get  him  to  take  the  bees  out  of  the  cellar.  He 
took  them  out  under  protest,  for  Cincinnati  weather  and  Maren¬ 
go  weather  are  two  different  things,  and  when  they  were  taken 
out,  March  31,  they  were  probably  ushered  into  a  rather  cold 
world.  They  were  in  bad  condition  when  taken  out — bees  do 
not  always  winter  in  a  cellar  in  the  best  possible  manner  with 
their  owner  several  hundred  miles  away — and  when  I  got  home 
in  May  I  found  only  three  of  the  nineteen  left  alive. 

THREE  YEARS  IN  CHICAGO. 

Immediately  upon  the  close  of  the  Cincinnati  Festival  1 
began  work  for  the  Mason  &  Hamlin  Organ  Co.,  at  their  Chi¬ 
cago  office,  where  I  stayed  three  years.  My  wife  and  little  boy 
stayed  on  the  farm  at  Marengo  during  the  summer  and  spent 
the  winters  with  me  in  Chicago.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  1 
could  have  only  a  few  days  with  the  bees  each  summer,  I  still 
clung  to  them.  At  least  I  could  lie  awake  nights  dreaming  and 
planning  as  to  what  might  be  done  with  bees,  and  I  could  do 
that  just  as  well  in  Chicago  as  Marengo. 

One  thing  that  resulted  from  that  three  years’  sojourn  in 
Chicago  was  an  appreciation  of  country  life  that  I  had  never 
had  before.  The  office,  80  and  82  Adams  Street,  was  in  the 
heart  of  the  burnt  district  left  bare  by  the  great  fire  of  1871, 
and  to  one  with  a  love  for  everything  green  that  grows  it  was 
desolate  indeed.  A  few  weeds  that  grew  in  a  vacant  lot  hard  by 
were  a  source  of  pleasure  to  me;  but  my  chief  delight  was  to 
stand  and  admire  a  bunch  of  white  clover  that  grew  near  Clark 
Street.  I  think  all  my  years  of  country  life  since  have  been  the 
brighter  for  the  dismal  months  spent  in  that  burnt  district  of 
the  great  city. 

The  three  colonies  that  were  left  in  the  spring  of  1873  were 
increased  to  eight  in  fair  condition,  and  I  took  perhaps  60 
pounds  of  honey.  These  eight  were  put  into  the  cellar  Nov.  10, 
and  December  10  Mrs.  Miller  gave  the  cellar  a  good  airing  by 
opening  the  inside  cellar  door  so  as  to  communicate  with  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


27 


upstairs  rooms,  and  then  she  closed  up  the  house  to  go  into  the 
city  to  spend  the  winter  with  me. 

March  30,  1874,  I  went  out  and  took  them  out  of  winter 
quarters,  and  was  delighted  to  find  them  in  superb  condition, 
the  whole  eight  alive,  and  hardly  a  teacupful  of  dead  bees  in 
all.  These  eight  I  increased  to  22,  taking  390  pounds  of  honey. 
Of  course  they  were  increased  artificially. 

I  attributed  the  previous  winter’s  success  partly  to  their 
having  been  taken  in  earlier  than  ever  before,  so  I  decided  to 
take  them  in  still  earlier,  and  went  out  for  that  purpose  October 
29.  But  the  bees  decided  they  would  not  be  taken  in,  and  when¬ 
ever  I  attemped  to  take  them  in  they  boiled  out.  So,  just  as  I 
had  done  a  good  many  times  before,  I  had  to  give  up  and  let 
them  have  their  own  way,  leaving  Mrs.  Miller  to  get  them  in 
when  the  weather  was  cool  enough  for  them. 

November  19  they  had  a  good  flight,  and  November  20 
they  were  taken  in  by  Mr.  Phillips,  a  farmer  with  the  average 
knowledge — or  perhaps  the  average  ignorance — of  bees,  aided 
by  “Jeff,”  Mrs.  Miller’s  factotum,  one  of  the  liveliest  specimens 
of  the  African  race  that  ever  jumped,  with  considerably  more 
than  the  average  fear  of  bees.  December  12  my  wife  gave  the 
cellar  a  good  airing,  and  then  it  was  closed  up  for  the  winter. 

The  winter  of  1874-5  was  one  of  remarkable  severity,  and 
I  felt  some  anxiety  about  the  bees.  The  last  of  February  my 
wife  went  out  and  warmed  up  the  house  and  cellar,  finding  the 
bees  somewhat  uneasy,  but  after  being  warmed  up  and  aired 
they  became  quiet.  Then  the  house  was  again  closed  up,  and 
they  were  left  till  April  6,  when  the  men  took  them  out. 

ITALIANS  FROM  ADAM  GRIMM. 

Three  of  the  twenty-two  had  died,  leaving  nineteen  to  be¬ 
gin  the  season  of  1875.  May  10  two  colonies  were  received  from 
Adam  Grimm,  for  which  I  paid  thirteen  dollars  per  colony  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  Italians  to  improve  my  stock,  for  not¬ 
withstanding  the  several  Italian  queens  I  had  got,  some  of  my 
bees  were  almost  black.  May  27  I  made  my  first  visit,  and  I  did 
not  find  the  colonies  very  strong.  Two  colonies  had  died  of 
queenlessness,  so  that  with  the  two  Grimm  colonies  I  had  still 
only  nineteen. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


28 


June  25  1  visited  Marengo  again,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
very  little  gain  in  the  strength  of  the  colonies.  The  season  had 
been  extremely  unpropitious.  July  7  I  made  another  visit,  of 
three  days,  and  found  scarcely  any  honey  in  the  hives.  I  made 
a  few  new  colonoies,  and  by  giving  empty  combs  and  plenty  of 
room  I  left  them  feeling  that  there  was  little  fear  of  any  swarm¬ 
ing  for  that  season. 

TROUBLE  WITH  SWARMING. 

But  a  sudden  change  must  have  come  over  the  bees  and  the 
season,  and  the  bees  must  have  built  up  with  great  rapidity,  for 
letters  kept  coming  to  me  saying  that  the  bees  had  swarmed,  and 
Mrs.  Miller  was  kept  busy  superintending  the  hiving,  “Jeff” 
doing  the  work.  It  was  a  mixed-up  business  for  them,  for  I  had 
left  the  queens  clipped,  and  swarms  would  issue  only  to  return 
again,  and  then  in  a  few  days  there  would  be  after-swarms,  and 
they  didn’t  know  which  swarms  were  likely  to  have  young 
queens,  and  which  clipped  queens.  Some  swarms  probably  got 
away,  but  in  the  round-up  when  I  went  out  again,  August  10,  I 
found  the  whole  number  of  colonies  had  reached  40,  there  hav¬ 
ing  been  an  increase  of  12  by  natural  swarming  in  addition  to 
the  nine  colonies  I  had  formed  artificially. 

BACK  TO  COUNTRY  LIFE. 

Clearly,  keeping  bees  at  long  range  was  very  unsatisfactory 
business.  City  life  was  also  unsatisfactor}^ ;  a  traveling  life  was 
worse.  So  in  spite  of  the  reduced  chance  of  making  money,  I 
decided  for  a  life  in  the  country,  turned  my  back  upon  an  offer 
of  $2500  and  expenses,  and  engaged  to  teach  school  at  $1200 
and  bear  my  own  expenses;  all  because  I  wanted  to  be  in  the 
country  and  have  a  chance  to  be  with  the  bees  all  the  time.  I 
have  never  regretted  the  choice.  If  I  had  kept  on  at  other 
business,  I  would  have  no  doubt  made  more  money,  but  I  would 
not  have  had  so  good  a  time,  and  I  doubt  if  I  would  be  alive 
now.  It’s  something  to  be  alive,  and  it’s  a  good  deal  more  to 
have  a  happy  life. 

I  did  not,  however,  get  away  from  the  city  till  August  12, 
1876,  but  that  was  early  enough  to  see  that  all  colonies  were  well 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


29 


prepared  for  winter,  and  to  be  sure  of  being  with  them  through 
the  winter. 

Six  of  the  40  colonies  were  lost  in  the  preceding  winter,  and 
(he  remaining  34  had  given  1600  pounds  of  honey,  mostly  ex¬ 
tracted,  and  had  been  increased  to  99. 


Fig.  8 — Carrying  with  Rope. 

.  IMPROVED  WINTERING. 

The  advantage  of  being  home  through  the  winter  was  ap¬ 
parent,  for  in  the  next  four  winters  the  average  loss  was  only  2 
per  cent,  while  for  the  preceding  four  winters  it  had  been  nine 
times  as  great.  A  new  factcor,  however,  had  come  in,  to  which 
part  of  the  change  was  to  be  attributed.  There  was  chance 
enough  to  ventilate  the  cellar,  for  two  chimneys  ran  from  ihe 


30 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ground  up  through  the  house,  a  stove-pipe  hole  opening  from 
the  cellar  into  each.  But  the  only  way  to  warm  the  cellar  was 
by  keeping  fire  in  the  rooms  overhead,  and  by  opening  the  inside 
cellar-door.  One  day  when  I  came  home  from  school — I  think 
it  was  in  December,  1876 — I  found  my  wife  had  decided  to 
hurry  up  the  manner  of  warming  the  cellar,  and  had  a  small 
stove  set  up,  and  throughout  the  winter  there  was  fire  there  a 
good  part  of  the  time. 

FIRST  SECTION  HONEY. 

In  1877  I  gave  up  extracted  honey,  the  introduction  of 
sections  having  made  such  a  revolution  that  it  seemed  better  to 
go  back  to  comb  honey.  The  sections  of  that  day  were  crude 
compared  with  the  finished  affairs  of  the  present  day.  One- 
piece  sections  were  then  unknown,  four-piece  sections  being  the 
only  ones,  and  there  was  not  a  remarkably  accurate  adjustment 
of  the  dovetailed  parts,  so  that  no  little  force  was  required  to 
put  the  sections  together.  When  a  tenon  and  mortise  did  not 
correspond,  pounding  with  a  mallet  would  make  the  tenon 
smash  its  way  through. 

In  order  to  fasten  the  foundation  in  the  section,  the  top 
piece  of  the  section  had  a  saw-kerf  going  half  way  through  the 
wood  on  the  under  side.  The  top  was  partly  split  apart,  the 
edge  of  the  foundation  inserted,  then  the  wood  was  straightened 
back  to  place.  I  was  not  well  satisfied  with  my  success  in  fast¬ 
ening  in  the  foundation,  and  in  1878  wrote  to  A.  I.  Root  for  a 
better  plan,  describing  minutely  the  plan  I  had  been  using, 
giving  a  pencil  sketch  of  the  board  I  used  on  my  lap,  with  the 
different  parts  upon  it.  In  June  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  my 
letter  appeared  in  full,  pencil  sketch  and  all,  and  he  sent  me  a 
round  sum  in  payment  for  the  letter,  but  no  word  of  instruction 
as  to  any  better  way  !  I  hardly  knew  whether  to  be  glad  or  mad. 

WIDE  FRAMES. 

The  sections  were  put  in  wide  frames,  double-tier,  making 
a  frame  hold  eight  sections  (Fig.  3).  I  had  an  arrangement  by 
which  the  sections,  after  having  been  lightly  started  together, 
were  all  punched  into  the  frame  at  one  stroke,  driving  them 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


31 


together  at  the  same  time,  and  another  arrangement  punched 
them  out  after  they  were  filled  with  honey.  The  super  in  which 
they  were  put  was  the  same  in  size  as  the  ten-frame  brood- 
chamber — in  fact,  there  was  no  difference  whatever  in  the  two 
except  that  the  bottom-board  was  nailed  on  to  the  brood-cham¬ 
ber  and  an  entrance  cut  into  it.  The  super  held  seven  frames, 
and  that  made  56  sections  in  a  super.  Lifting  these  supers 
when  they  were  filled  was  no  child’s  play,  especially  when  load¬ 
ing  them  on  the  wagon  at  an  out-apiary,  and  unloading  them 
at  home,  as  I  had  to  do  in  later  years. 

BROOD-COMBS  AS  BAITS. 

In  order  to  start  the  bees  promptly  to  work  in  the  sections, 
a  frame  of  brood  was  raised  from  below,  and  the  sections  facing 
this  brood  were  occupied  by  the  bees  at  once  if  honey  was 
coming  in.  Care  had  to  be  taken  not  to  leave  the  brood  too 
long,  for  if  the  bees  commenced  to  seal  the  sections  while  it  was 
there  they  would  be  capped  very  dark,  the  bees  carrying  some 
of  the  old  black  comb  over  to  the  sections  to  be  used  in  the 
capping. 

BEEKEEPING  SOLE  BUSINESS. 

In  1878,  at  the  close  of  the  school  year  in  June,  I  decided 
to  give  up  teaching  for  a  time,  and  since  that  time  I  have  had 
no  other  business  than  to  work  with  bees,  unless  it  be  to  write 
about  them. 

In  1880  I  began  out-apiaries  in  a  tentative  sort  of  way,  a 
few  bees  in  two  out-apiaries.  In  March  of  that  year  my  wife 
died.  When  the  bees  were  got  into  the  cellar  for  winter  I  closed 
up  the  house,  took  my  boy  with  me,  and  went  to  Johnstown, 
Pa.,  to  spend  the  winter  with  my  sister,  Mrs.  Emma  R.  Jones. 
When  I  returned  near  the  close  of  the  following  April,  deep 
snow-banks  still  surrounded  the  house,  and  matters  were  in 
anything  but  a  happy  condition  in  the  cellar. 

DISCOURAGEMENT. 

When  the  bees  were  ready  to  begin  upon  the  harvest  of 
1881,  there  were  67  colonies  left  out  of  the  162  that  had  been 


32 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


put  in  the  cellar  the  previous  fall.  A  loss  of  59  per  cent  was 
additional  proof  that  it  is  better  for  the  bees  and  their  owner  to 
spend  the  winter  in  the  same  State. 

ENCOURAGEMENT. 

Beginning*  1881  with  67  colonies,  I  took  7884  pounds  of 
comb  honey,  and  increased  to  177  colonies.  An  average  of 


Fig.  9 — Philo  Carrying  a  Hive 

117  2-3  pounds  of  comb  honey  per  colony,  and  an  increase  of 
164  per  cent,  would  be  nothing  so  very  remarkable  in  some 
localities,  but  I  consider  it  so  in  a  place  where  there  is  no 
basswood,  buckwheat,  nor  anything  else  to  depend  upon  for  a 
crop  except  white  clover.  Certainly  it  is  not  the  usual  thing 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


here,  but  remember  there  were  only  67  colonies,  and  if  I  were 
again  reduced  to  67  colonies  1  think  1  might  do  a  shade  better 
now. 


AVERAGE  YIELD  DEPENDS  MUCH  UPON  NUMBERS. 

In  general,  I  suspect  that  the  number  of  colonies  in  a  place 
is  not  sufficiently  taken  into  account.  I  remember  at  one  time 
A.  I.  Root  commenting  upon  the  case  of  a  beginner  With  a  very 


Fig.  10 — Colonies  Intended  for  Out-api aides. 


few  colonies  making  a  fine  record,  and  he  thought  it  was  be¬ 
cause  of  the  great  enthusiasm  of  the  beekeeper  as  a  beginner. 
I  think  instead  of  unusual  enthusiasm  it  was  unusual  opportu¬ 
nities  for  the  bees.  I  can  easily  imagine  a  place  where  five 
colonies  might  store  continuously  for  five  months,  and  where  a 
hundred  colonies  on  the  same  ground  might  not  store  three 
weeks.  There  might  be  flowers  yielding  continuously  through¬ 
out  the  entire  season,  but  so  small  in  quantity  that,  although 
they  might  keep  a  very  few  colonies  storing  right  along,  they 
would  not  yield  enough  for  the  daily  consumption  of  more  than 
ten  to  fifty  colonies.  Remember  that  the  surplus  is  t lie  smaller 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


34 


part  of  tlie  honey  gathered  by  the  bees.  Adrian  Getaz  computes 
that  at  least  200  pounds  of  honey  is  needed  for  home  consump¬ 
tion  by  an  average  colony.  So  far  as  enthusiasm  and  interest 
are  concerned,  I  do  not  believe  my  stock  is  any  less  of  those 
commodities  than  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  A  born  beekeeper 
never  loses  his  enthusiasm. 

TOTAL  CROP  RATHER  THAN  PER  COLONY. 

Some  one  may  possibly  ask,  “  If  you  can  do  so  much  better 
with  67  colonies,  why  not  restrict  yourself  to  that  number  ?  ” 
But  I  can’t  do  any  better;  at  least  not  in  any  average  season. 
For  it  is  not  the  yield  per  colony  I  care  for,  unless  it  should 
be  to  boast  over  it;  what  I  care  for  is  the  total  amount  of  net 
money  I  can  get  from  my  bees.  In  the  year  1897  my  average 
per  colony  was  71%  pounds,  only  about,  three-fifths  as  much  as 
in  1881;  but  as  I  had  in  1897  239  colonies,  my  total  crop  was 
17,150  pounds,  or  more  than  twice  as  much  as  in  1881. 

A  BAD  YEAR. 

In  the  year  1887  my  crop  of  honey  was  a  little  more  than 
half  a  pound  per  colony,  and  in  the  fall  I  fed  2802  pounds  of 
granulated  sugar  to  keep  the  bees  from  starving  in  winter. 
But  I  could  not  then  tell,  neither  can  I  now  tell  whether  it  was 
because  the  season  was  so  bad  or  because  the  field  was  over¬ 
stocked,  for  I  had  363  colonies  in  four  apiaries.  Possibly  if  I 
had  had  only  half  as  many  bees,  the  balance  might  have  been  on 
the  other  side  of  the  ledger.  But  I  don’t  know. 

Somewhere  there  surely  is  a  limit  beyond  which  one  cannot 
profitably  increase  the  number  of  colonies  in  an  apiary,  but  just 
where  that  limit  is  can  perhaps  never  be  learned.  If  I  were 
obliged  to  make  a  guess,  I  should  say  about  100  colonies  in  one 
apiary  is  the  limit  in  my  locality. 

If  I  were  to  live  my  life  over  again,  and  knew  in  advance 
that  I  should  be  a  beekeeper,  I*  never  would  locate  in  a  place 
with  only  one  source  of  surplus.  When  white  clover  fails  here 
the  bottom  drops  out.  Unfortunately  the  years  in  which  the 
bottom  drops  out  have  been  unpleasantly  frequent. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


35 

In  the  fall  of  1881  I  married  Miss  Sidney  Jane  Wilson, 
who  was  born  on  t lie  Wilson  farm  where  one  of'  my  out-apiaries 
was  for  years  located.  There  was  some  economy  in  the  arrange¬ 
ment,  for  she  could  go  out  to  the  out-apiary  for  a  day’s  work, 
and  visit  her  old  home  at  the  same  time. 

A  GOOD  YEAR. 

Of  the  177  colonies  with  which  the  year  1881  closed,  two 
died  in  wintering,  and  I  sold  one  in  the  spring.  That  left  174 


Fig.  11 — Hive-staples. 


for  the  season  of  1882,  and  these  gave  me  16,549  pounds  of 
honey,  nearly  all  in  sections.  That  was  95  pounds  per  colony, 
and  the  increase  was  only  16  per  cent — quite  a  falling  oft  from 
the  amount  per  colony  of  the  previous  year.  But  the  additional 
nine  thousand  pounds  in  the  total  crop  reconciled  me  to  the 
“  per  colony  ”  part  of  the  business.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  learn  how  much  the  difference  in  the  yield  per  colony  was  due 
to  the  season,  and  how  much  to  the  increased  number,  but  that 
is  one  of  the  things  past  finding  out. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


36 


HEDDON  SUPER. 

In  the  year  1883  I  tried  the  Heddon  super  (Fig.  4)  to  the 
number  of  two  hundred.  The  Heddon  super  is  much  in  form 
like  a  T  super,  but  it  is  divided  lengthwise  into  four  compart¬ 
ments.  This  prevents,  of  course,  the  possibility  of  having  sep¬ 
arators  running  the  length  of  the  super,  so  no  separators  are 
used.  James  Heddon  and  others  had  reported  success  in  ob¬ 
taining  sections  that  were  straight  enough  for  satisfactory 
packing  in  a  shipping-case,  but  with  me  too  many  sections  were 
bulged,  their  neighbors  being  correspondingly  hollowed  out.  I 
did  not  continue  the  use  of  this  super  very  long.  • 

T  SUPER. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year  I  attended  the  North 
American  convention  at  Toronto,  Canada,  and  while  there  D. 
A.  Jones  showed  me  the  T  super  (Fig.  5).  I  was  much  im¬ 
pressed  with  it.  The  next  year  I  put  a  number  of  T  supers  in 
use,  and  the  more  I  tried  them  the  better  I  liked  them.  I  have 
tried  a  number  of  other  kinds  since,  but  nothing  that  has  made 
me  desire  to  make  a  change. 

THICK  TOP-BARS. 

When  attending  that  same  convention,  that  very  practical 
Canadian  beekeeper,  J.  B.  Hall,  showed  me  his  thick  top-bars, 
and  told  me  that  they  prevented  the  building  of  so  much  burr- 
comb  between  the  top-bars  and  the  sections.  Although  I  made 
no  immediate  practical  use  of  this  knowledge,  it  had  no  little 
to  do  with  my  using  thick  top-bars  afterward.  I  was  at  that 
time  using  the  Heddon  slat  honey-board  (Fig.  6),  and  the  use 
of  it  with  the  frames  I  then  had  was  a  boon.  It  kept  the  bot¬ 
toms  of  the  sections  clean,  but  when  it  was  necessary  to  open 
the  brood-chamber  there  was  found  a  solid  mass  of  honey 
between  the  honey-board  and  the  top-bars.  It  was  something 
of  a  nuisance,  too,  to  have  this  extra  part  in  the  way,  and  I  am 
very  glad  that  at  the  present  clay  it  can  be  dispensed  with  by 
having  top-bars  1  %  inches  wide  and  7/<  inch  thick,  with  a  spac° 
of  Yi  inch  between  top-bar  and  section.  Not  that  there  is  a:i 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


37 


entire  absence  of  burr-combs,  but  near  enough  to  it  so  that  one 
can  get  along  much  more  comfortably  than  with  the  slat  honey- 
board.  At  any  rate  there  is  no  longer  the  killing  of  bees  that 
there  was  every  day  the  dauby  honey-board  was  replaced. 

But  it  would  take  up  space  unnecessarily  to  follow  farther 
the  course  of  the  years,  especially  as  these  later  years  are 
familiar  to  more  of  my  readers  than  are  the  former  years,  so  T 
will  proceed  to  fulfill  my  chief  purpose  in  telling  about  my 


Fig.  12— Bottom-rack. 


work  throughout  the  course  of  the  year,  reserving,  however, 
the  right  to  refer  to  the  past  whenever  I  like. 

SEASONS  HAVE  CHANGED. 

It  is  only  fair  to  remark,  however,  that  in  later  years  the 
crops  have  not  always  been  so  good  as  formerly.  At  least  that 
is  true  as  to  the  early  crop.  The  fall  crop,  however,  seems  to 
be  on  the  increase.  Just  why,  I  don’t  know,  unless  it  be  that 
there  are  two  important  pickle-factories  at  Marengo,  and  the 
bees  have  the  range  of  some  two  hundred  acres  of  cucumbers. 


38 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Sweet  clover  may  have  a  little  to  do  with  it,  and  also  heartsease. 
If  the  yield  of  fall  honey  keeps  on  the  increase,  it  will 
hardly  do  to  say  there  is  only  one  source  of  honey — white 
clover.  The  season  of  1902  emphasized  the  change  in  seasons. 
During  the  proper  time  for  white  clover,  the  bees  would  have 
starved  if  it  had  not  been  that  they  were  fed  about  a  thousand 
pounds  of  sugar.  Clover  grew  well,  but  blossoms  were  scarce. 
The  bloom,  however,  kept  increasing,  and  during  the  latter  part 
of  August  and  the  first  part  of  September  a  number  of  colonies 
stored  fifty  pounds  and  more  each.  How  much  of  the  honey 
was  from  clover  I  cannot  tell.  As  late  as  the  last  half  of  October 
I  saw  the  bees  busy  on  both  red  and  white  clover. 

TAKING  BEES  OUT  OF  THE  CELLAR. 

The  difficulty  of  wintering  bees,  at  the  North,  is  not  entirely 
without  its  compensations.  I  am  almost  willing  to  meet  some 
losses,  for  the  sake  of  the  sharp  interest  with  which  I  look 
forward  to  the  time  of  taking  the  bees  out  of  the  cellar  in  the 
spring.  I  live  on  a  place  of  37  acres,  about  a  mile  from  the 
railroad  station,  -and  on  my  way  down  town  a  number  of  soft- 
maple  trees  are  growing.  How  eagerly  I  watch  for  the  first 
bursting  of  the  buds!  and  when  the  red  of  the  blossom  actually 
begins  to  push  forth,  with  what  a  thrill  of  pleasure  I  say,  “  The 
bees  can  get  out  on  the  first  good  day  r  ! 

In  former  years  I  did  sometimes  bring  out  the  bees  earlier, 
because  they  seemed  so  uneasy,  but  I  doubt  if  I  gained  anything 
by  it.  I  have  known  years  when  a  cold,  freezing  time  came  on 
at  the  time  of  maple-bloom  and  did  not  take  out  the  bees  for  a 
good  many  days,  but  generally  I  go  by  the  blooming  of  the  soft 
maples.  So  I  watch  the  thermometer  and  the  clouds,  and  usu¬ 
ally  in  a  day  or  two  there  comes  a  morning  with  the  sun  shining, 
and  the  mercury  at  45  or  50  degrees,  with  the  prospect  of  going 
a  good  deal  higher  through  the  day. 

TAKING  OUT  WITH  A  RUSH. 

This  is  one  of  the  times  when  I.  want  outside  help,  for 
carrying  two  or  three  hundred  colonies  of  bees  out  of  the  cellar 
is  not  very  light  work  if  it  be  done  with  a  rush ;  and  I  want 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


d9 


them  all  out  as  soon  as  possible  so  as  to  have  a  good  flight 
before  night.  If  any  should  be  brought  out  too  late  to  fly,  it 
may  turn  cold  before  the  next  morning,  when  a  lot  of  bees 
might  fly  out  to  meet  their  death.  To  be  sure,  I  could  get  along 
without  outside  help  by  having  one  of  the  women-folks  help  me, 
for  my  hives  have  cleats  on  each  end,  the  cleats  reaching  clear 
across  the  hive,  so  that  a  rope  can  be  slipped  over  them,  and 
one  can  take  hold  of  the  rope  at  each  side,  making  the  work  not 
so  very  hard.  Indeed,  the  two  women  have  sometimes  rendered 
efficient  service  by  taking  a  hive  between  them,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
7.  An  endless  rope  is  used,  making  it  the  work  of  a  very  few 
seconds  to  throw  the  rope  over  each  end  of  the  hive.  The  same 
rope  may  be  used  to  make  the  work  lighter  for  a  single  person 
(Fig.  8).  But  the  rope  is  not  so  quickly  adjusted  as  when  two 
persons  use  it. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  better  to  have  a  strong  man  who  can 
pick  up  each  hive  without  any  ceremony,  carry  it  directly  to  its 
place  and  set  it  on  its  stand.  In  this  work  the  end-cleats  of  the 
hive  serve  an  important  purpose,  for  the  carrier  can  let  the 
full  weight  of  the  hive  come  on  his  forearms  by  having  an  arm 
under  each  cleat,  each  hand  lightly  clasping  the  hive  on  the 
opposite  side  (Fig.  9). 

CELLAR  AIRED  BEFORE  CARRYING. 

When  it  is  warm  enough  to  carry  out  bees,  it  will  be 
understood  that  the  cellar  is  likely  to  become  a  good  deal 
warmer  than  45  degrees,  the  temperature  near  which  it  is  desir¬ 
able  to  keep  the  cellar  throughout  the  winter.  So  if  carrying 
out  is  undertaken  without  any  previous  preparation,  when  the 
cellar-door  is  opened  the  bees  will  pour  out  of  the  hives  and 
out  of  the  cellar-door,  sailing  about  in  confusion,  causing  some 
loss  and  making  the  work  of  carrying  out  exceedingly  unpleas¬ 
ant.  This  must  be  avoided ;  so  the  previous  evening,  as  soon  as 
it  becomes  dusk,  cellar  door  and  window  are  thrown  wide  open. 

Having  the  cellar  open  the  previous  night  makes  it  much 
pleasanter  to  carry  out  the  bees,  which  do  not  generally  come 
out  of  their  hives  till  some  time  after  being  set  on  their  stands. 
If  at  any  time  a  colony  seems  inclined  to  come  out  of  the  hive, 
a  little  smoke  is  given  at  the  entrance.  At  other  times  it  would 


40 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


be  bad  to  have  smoke  in  the  cellar,  but  as  thejoees  are  immedi¬ 
ately  to  have  a  chance  to  fly,  it  does  no  harm  to  have  the  cellar 
filled  with  smoke.  The  hive  entrances  are  left  open ;  and  as  the 
hives  have  been  taken  into  the  cellar  with  covers  and  bottom- 
boards  just  as  on  the  summer  stands,  the  work  can  be  done 
rapidly. 

Before  each  hive  leaves  the  cellar,  I  make  sure  there  are 
live  bees  in  it,  by  placing  my  ear  at  the  entrance.  If  I  hear 
nothing  I  blow  into  the  entrance.  That  generally  brings  an 


Fig.  13 — Entrance-blocks 

immediate  response,  but  sometimes  I  will  blow  several  times 
before  getting  a  sleepy  reply  from  a  strong  colony.  That  pleases 
me.  If  any  are  dead  they  are  piled  to  one  side  in  the  cellar. 

PLACING  OF  COLONIES. 

Colonies  intended  for  the  home  apiary  are  set  upon  their 
stands.  Those  for  the  out-apiaries  are  set  upon  the  ground  not 
far  from  the  cellar,  being  placed  in  pairs,  two  hives  almost 
touching,  then  a  space  of  a  foot  or  more  between  that  pair  and 
t he  next  pair,  so  as  to  occupy  as  little  room  as  possible.  (Fig. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


11 


10.)  Sometimes  some  attempt  is  made  to  have  colonies  occupy 
the  same  stands  they  occupied  the  previous  year,  but  oftener  no 
attentioit  is  pitlcl  to  this.  Close  attention,  however,  is  paid  to 
selecting  the  colonies  that  are  to  be  in  the  home  apiary. 

BEST  BEES  FOR  HOME  APIARY. 

The  hives  with  queens  having  the  best  records  were  all 
marked  the  previous  fall  by  having  a  stick  tacked  on  the  front. 
These  are  all  put  in  the  home  apiary — not  that  queens  will  be 
reared  from  all  of  them.  The  one  or  two  very  best  colonies 
may  furnish  all  the  young  queens,  the  rest  will  furnish  choice 
drones.  By  doing  this  from  year  to  year  I  ought  to  have  better 
stock  than  if  I  allowed  the  poorest  drones  to  remain  in  the  home 
apiary. 

TAKING  BEES  ALL  OUT  AT  ONCE. 

Some  object  to  taking  all  the  bees  out  at  the  same  time,  for 
fear  of  so  much  excitement  that  bees  will  swarm  out  and  return 
to  the  wrong  hives.  I  have  never  had  much  trouble  in  that  way. 
Neither  have  I  had  any  evil  results  from  putting  colonies  on 
stands  different  from  the  ones  they  occupied  the  previous  fall. 

I  am  not  sure  that  I  can  tell  for  certain  just  why  there 
should  be  this  difference  in  different  apiaries,  but  I  think  I  can 
see  some  reason  for  it.  As  already  mentioned,  the  cellar  is  left 
wide  open  all  night  the  night  before  the  bees  are  carried  out, 
and  it  is  possible  that  just  in  that  little  thing  lies  the  secret  of 
the  differencec.  When  the  weather  begins  to  warm  up  in  the 
spring  before  it  is  time  to  carry  out  the  bees,  it  often  happens 
that  there  comes  a  warm  day  when  the  outside  temperature  runs 
up  to  50  degrees  or  more,  and  possibly  this  may  continue  more 
than  a  day.  Such  times  are  hard  on  the  ventilation  of  the  cellar. 

TEMPERATURE  AND  VENTILATION. 

Please  remember  that  the  ventilation  of  the  cellar  depends 
on  the  difference  of  the  weight  of  the  air  in  the  cellar  and  the 
weight  of  the  outside  air.  Also  remember  that  the  difference  in 
weight  depends  on  the  difference  in  temperature.  Warm  air  is 


12 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


lighter  than  cold  air.  So  when  the  air  outside  the  cellar  is 
colder  and  heavier  than  that  inside,  it  forces  itself  in  and  crowds 
up  t he  warm  air,  precisely  in  the  same  way — although  not  with 
the  same  degree  of  force — that  water  would  pour  into  the  cellar 
if  a  body  of  water  surrounded  the  cellar.  If  t lie  water  were 
lighter  than  the  air,  no  water  would  flow  into  the  cellar.  So 
long  as  the  outside  air  is  colder  than  the  inside,  ventilation 
continues. 

Suppose,  now,  that  the  air  in  the  cellar  stands  at  45  or  50 
degrees,  and  that  the  outside  air  becomes  warmed  up  to  the 
same  temperature.  There  will  be  an  equilibrium  in  weight,  and 
there  will  be  no  ventilation.  The  air  in  the  cellar  is  all  the  time 
becoming  vitiated  by  the  breathing  of  the  bees,  and,  no  matter 
what  the  ventilation  of  the  hives,  it  can  do  little  good  so  long 
as  there  is  no  pure  air  in  the  cellar.  The  bees  become  frantic 
in  their  desire  for  fresh  air,  and  if  carried  out  while  in  this 
condition  they  will  rush  out  of  the  hive,  the  excitement  becom¬ 
ing  so  great  that  soon  after  being  put  on  their  stands  whole 
colonies  will  swarm.  If  the  cellar  has  been  open  all  night,  they 
will  find  little  change  of  air  on  being  carried  out,  and  so  will 
not  fly  out  of  the  hives  for  the  sake  of  getting  air,  but  only  to 
take  their  cleansing  flight. 

Of  course,  there  is  an  understanding  with  the  women-foiks 
about  the  time  the  bees  are  taken  out,  lest  they  spot  the  clothes 
on  the  line  on  a  wash-day;  but  the  bees  have  the  right  of  way, 
and  if  there  is  a  clash,  the  wash-day  must  be  postponed. 

SIZE  OF  ENTRANCE. 

While  the  bees  were  in  the  cellar,  they  had  an  entrance  12% 
x  2  inches,  and  during  the  cool  days  of  spring,  after  they  are 
taken  out  of  the  cellar,  it  is  no  longer  desirable  to  have  so  large 
an  entrance.  So  as  soon  as  the  bees  are  on  their  stands,  the 
entrance  is  closed  down  to  a  very  small  one  by  means  of  an  en¬ 
trance-block.  Before  describing  this  I  must  tell  you  about  the 
hive  and  bottom-board. 

CLEATS  FOR  HIVES. 

The  hive  is  the  ordinary  8-frame  dovetailed,  only  1  insist 
upon  having  on  each  end  a  plain  cleat  13%  x  1%  x  %.  There 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


43 


are  more  reasons  than  one  for  having  this  cleat,  rather  than  the 
usual  hand-holes.  It  is  more  convenient  to  take  hold  of  when 
one  wants  to  lift  a  hive.  Latterly  the  manufacturers  use  a  very 
short  cleat,  which  is  a  great  improvement  on  the  hand-hole,  but 
it  does  not  allow  one  to  carry  the  hive  with  the  weight  resting 
on  the  whole  forearm,  as  shown  in  Fig.  9.  This  way  of  carrying 
a  hive  is  one  gotten  up  by  Philo  Woodruff,  the  hired  man  who 
helped  me  for  several  years,  evidently  to  make  the  work  easier 
for  him.  One  day  he  was  carrying  a  hive  that  had  no  cleats, 
only  hand-holes,  perhaps  the  only  one  of  that  kind  he  had  ever 
carried.  He  seemed  disgusted  with  it,  and  as  he  set  the  hive 
down  he  grumbled,  “  I  wish  the  man  that  made  them  hand-holes 
had  to  carry  them.” 

Another  advantage  of  the  cleats  is  the  strength  it  gives  to 
the  rabbeted  ends  of  the  hive.  Without  the  cleat  the  rabbet 
leaves  the  hive-end  at  the  top  only  7-16  of  an  inch  thick  for 
more  than  %  of  an  inch  of  its  depth,  and  the  splitting  off  of 
this  part  is  unpleasantly  frequent.  With  the  added  cleat  the 
thickness  is  three  times  as  much,  and  it  never  splits  off. 

These  cleats,  not  being  regularly  made  by  rhanufacturers, 
can  be  had  only  by  having  them  made  to  order,  so  hives  are 
generally  made  without  them,  but  quite  a  number  of  experi¬ 
enced  beekeepers  are  quietly  usiffg  them  because  of  their  dis¬ 
tinct  advantage,  notwithstanding  the  inconvenience  of  having 
them  made  to  order. 

BOTTOM-BOARD. 

The  bottom-board  is  a  plain  box,  two  inches  deep,  open  at 
one  end.  It  is  made  of  six  pieces  of  %  stuff ;  two  pieces  22% 
x  2,  one  piece  12%  x  2,  and  three  pieces  13%  x  7%.  When  so 
desired,  the  bottom-board  is  fastened  to  the  hive  by  means  of 
four  staples  1%  in.  wide,  with  points  %  inch  long  (Fig.  11). 

With  such  a  bottom-board  there  is  a  space  two  inches  deep 
under  the  bottom-bars,  a  very  nice  thing  in  winter,  and  at  any 
time  when  there  is  no  danger  of  bees  building  down,  but  quite 
too  deep  for  harvest-time.  Formerly  I  made  the  bottom-board 
reyersible,  reversing  it  in  summer  so  as  to  use  the  shallow  side, 
but  latterly  I  leave  the  deep  side  up  summer  and  winter. 


44 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Of  course,  with  a  ‘2-incli  space  under  the  bottom-bars  the 
bees  would  build  down,  sometimes  even  as  early  as  dandelion 
bloom.  Before  that  time  I  shove  under  the  bottom-bars  a 
bottom-rack.  As  material  for  a  rack  there  are  2  pieces  18  x  1 
x  %,  and  21  pieces  lO1/^  n  %  x  %.  The  little  pieces  are  nailed 
upon  the  %-inch  sides  of  the  two  larger  pieces,  ladder-fashion, 
with  %-inch  space  between  each  two  strips.  The  strips  are 
allowed  to  project  over  at  each  side  about  an  inch. 

1  value  this  bottom-rack  highly.  It  prevents  building  down, 
and  at  t lie  same  time  gives  the  bees  nearly  the  full  benefit  of 


Fig.  14 — Wagonload  of  bees. 

the  deep  space,  preventing  over-heating  in  hot  weather,  thus 
serving  as  no  small  factor  in  the  prevention  of  swarming.  It 
also  saves  the  labor  of  lifting  the  hive  off  the  bottom-board  to 
reverse  the  bottom-board  and  then  lifting  the  hive  baek  again, 
spring  and  fall.  Instead  of  being  made  in  the  way  described, 
a  board  IOV2  inches  long  may  be  split  up  irregularly  and  used 
for  the  cross-pieces.  Such  a  bottom-rack  is  shown  at  Fig.  12. 

Now  for  that  entrance-block.  Formerly  1  made  it  heavy 
(Fig.  13),  but  now  it  is  thin,  *4  inch  or  so  thick,  12  inches  long 
and  3  inches  wide.  It  is  lightly  nailed  upon  the  hive  by  one  or 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


45 


two  small  nails,  and  at  one  lower  corner  a  notch  1  inch  square 
or  less  is  cut  out.  I  think  that  small  entrance  helps  to  prevent 
“  drifting  ”  when  the  bees  take  their  first  flight. 

When  the  bees  are  being  carried  out,  if  any  are  noted  as 
suspiciously  light,  they  are  marked,  and  the  next  day  frames  of 
honey  are  given  them.  If,  unfortunately,  these  are  not  to  be 
had,  sections  of  honey  are  put  in  the  hive  in  wide  frames,  or 
shoved  under. 

HAULING  BEES. 

As  soon  as  the  bees  have  had  a  good  flight,  those  not  in  the 
home  apiary  are  ready  to  be  hauled  away.  I  like  to  get  them 
away  as  soon  as  possible,  so  as  to  have  advantage  of  the  spring 
pasturage  at  the  out-apiaries,  but  sometimes  the  condition  of 
the  roads  causes  delay.  I  first  hauled  four  colonies  at  a  time  on 
a  one-horse  wagon,  which  you  may  imagine  was  very  slow  work. 
That  was  years  ago,  and  the  number  has  been  gradually  in¬ 
creased  until  now  40  or  50  colonies  are  taken  at  a  load. 

WAGON  FOR  HAULING. 

After  several  changes,  I  used  for  a  good  while  a  common 
farm-wagon  with  heavy  springs  put  under  the  box.  Nine  colo¬ 
nies  were  put  in  the  box;  then  a  rack  (Fig.  15,  made  in  two 
parts  for  convenience  in  handling)  was  put  on  the  box,  and  22 
colonies  were  set  on  the  rack,  making  31  colonies  in  a  load. 
After  that  I  used  a  flat  hay-rack  or  a  drayman’s  platform, 
taking  40  or  50  colonies  at  a  load. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  HAULING. 

All  the  hives  have  fixed-distance  frames,  so  no  preparation 
is  needed  in  the  way  of  fastening  frames  in  place  before  haul¬ 
ing.  The  only  thing  to  do  is  to  fasten  the  cover  and  close  the 
entrance.  The  cover  is  fastened  to  the  hive  by  two  staples  (the 
same  as  those  used  to  fasten  the  bottom-board  to  the  hive)  one 
staple  at  the  middle  on  each  side.  Hives  that  were  brought 
from  the  out-apiaries  the  previous  fall  have  the  covers  already 
fastened,  for  they  have  never  been  opened  since  coming  home, 


46 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


unless  they  were  so  light  as  to  need  feeding.  If  things  were 
always  done  just  right,  there  never  would  be  any  opened 
because  suspiciously  light;  but  things  are  not  always  done  just 
right. 


ENTRANCE-CLOSERS. 

The  entrance  is  of  course  closed  with  wire  cloth,  and  after 
trying  a  good  many  entrance-closers  1  have  settled  down  upon 
the  simplest  of  all.  It  is  a  piece  of  wire  cloth  just  large  enough 
to  close  the  12Vs  entrance  and  project  an  inch  or  so  up  on  the 


Fig.  15 — Hack  for  Hauling  Bees. 

front  of  the  hive.  To  make  the  edges  at  the  bottom  and  at  the 
two  ends  more  firm,  and  to  prevent  them  from  raveling,  the 
wire  cloth  is  cut  about  lS1/^  x  4,  and  about  %  of  an  inch  folded 
over  at  the  bottom  and  at  each  end.  These  edges  are  folded 
over  the  blade  of  a  saw.  When  finished,  the  closer  is  12Vs 
inches  long  or  a  trifle  less,  so  it  will  easily  fit  in  the  bottom- 
board.  The  closer  is  put  in  place,  a  piece  of  lath  13V2  inches 
long  is  pushed  up  against  it,  and  fastened  by  a  nail. in  the 
middle  of  the  lath.  Then  to  make  it  more  secure,  a  nail  at  each 
end  is  placed  perpendicularly  against  the  lath  and  driven  a 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


47 


short  distance  into  the  outer  rim  of  the  bottom-board.  The 
three  nails  used  to  fasten  the  lath  are  finishing  or  wire  casing 
nails  21/2  inches  long  or  longer.  Being  so  long  and  not  driven 
in  very  deep,  one  can  generally  pull  them  out  with  the  fingers. 

At  Fig.  16,  in  the  middle  of  the  cut,  will  be  seen  an 
entrance-closer,  above  it  being  the  lath  to  fasten  the  closer  in 
place. 

Before  the  hives  are  put  on  the  wagon  I  make  sure  there  is 
no  possible  leak  in  any  of  them.  This  is  hardly  necessary  where 
everything  is  in  good  condition;  but  some  of  my  covers  and 
bottom-boards  are  pretty  old,  and  I  must,  plug  up  any  hole  that 
would  possibly  allow  a  bee  to  escape. 

When  the  hives  are  placed  on  their  stands  in  the  out-apiary, 
the  entrance-closers  are  removed,  a  little  smoke  being  used  if  the 
bees  appear  belligerent.  Then  the  entrances  are  closed  with  the 
entrance-blocks. 

I  speak  of  taking  bees  to  out-apiaries  as  if  I  were  still 
keeping  up  out-apiaries.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  had  no 
bees  away  from  the  home  apiary  since  1909.  That  year  I  kept 
bees  in  the  Wilson  apiary  for  t lie  last  time,  having  given  up  the 
Hastings  apiary  some  years  before,  and  the  Belden  apiary  still 
earlier.  But  it  is  more  convenient,  sometimes,  to  speak  of  past 
things  as  if  present,  so  the  reader  will  please  pardon  any  dis¬ 
crepancy  that  may  appear  in  this  book  at  any  time  on  that 
account. 

NUMBERING  HIVES. 

Numbers  for  hives  are  made  in  this  way:  Pieces  of  tin 
4  x  2i/2  inches  have  a  small  hole  punched  in  each  one,  near  the 
edge,  about  midway  of  one  of  the  longer  sides.  With  ^-inch 
wire  nails,  nail  them  on  the  top  of  a  wooden  hive-cover  or  other 
plane  surface.  Then  give  them  a  couple  of  coats  of  white  paint, 
and,  when  dry,  put  the  numbers  on  them,  from  1  upward,  with 
black  paint.  There  is  room  to  make  figures  large  enough  to  bp 
seen  distinctly  at  quite  a  distance.  These  tin  tags  are  fastened 
on  the  fronts  of  the  hives  with  %  or  inch  wire  nails  driven  in 
not  ve  ry  deep,  making  it  easy  to  change  them  at  any  time  from 
one  hive  to  another. 


48 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


I  have  also  used  manilla  tags  with  figures  printed  on  then; 
but  the  figures  are  not  seen  at  so  great  a  distance  as  on  the  white 
tin  tags.  The  tin  tags  cost  more  in  the  first  place,  but  are 
cheaper  in  the  long  run,  for  they  last  twenty  years  or  more, 
while  the  manilla  scarcely  last  a  fifth  of  that  time  in  satisfac¬ 
tory  shape. 


ORDER  OF  NUMBERS. 

When  the  hives  are  put  on  the  stands  in  the  spring,  the 
numbers  are  all  mixed  up.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  enter 
upon  the  record-book  these  numbers.  The  first  hive  in  the  first 
row  should  be  No.  1,  the  next  No.  2,  and  so  on;  but  in  the  place 
of  No.  f  stands  perhaps  231 ;  on  the  place  of  No.  2  stands  174, 
etc.  So,  on  the  new  record-book  I  write  No.  1  (231)  on  the 
first  page  at  the  top ;  one-third  the  way  down  the  page,  I  write 
No.  2  (174),  and  so  on. 

Just  as  soon  as  convenient  the  tags  are  taken  off  the  hives 
where  they  are  wrong,  and  the  right  ones  put  on.  If  on  No.  1 
the  tag  says  231,  then  that  tag  is  taken  off  and  the  tag  that  says 
1  is  put  on. 


THE  RECORD-BOOK. 

1  can  tell  more  or  less  of  the  history  of  every  colony  of  bees 
since  I  began  keeping  bees  in  1861.  At  first  I  kept  the  record 
of  each  colony  from  year  to  year  in  the  same  book,  but  for  a 
good  many  years  I  have  had  a  new  book  each  year.  The  book 
I  like  is  12  x  5^2  inches,  containing  about  160  pages  (Fig.  17). 
Three  colonies  are  kept  on  each  page,  so  the  book  is  a  good  deal 
larger  than  I  need,  for  I  have  never  had  quite  400  colonies.  Bui 
a  good  many  pages  are  used  for  memoranda  and  other  things, 
and  it  is  better  to  have  too  much  room  in  the  book  than  too  little. 
While  the  size  of  the  book  is  not  so  very  important,  the  binding 
is.  If  the  book  were  bound  the  same  as  the  book  in  which  you 
are  now  reading,  it  would  come  to  pieces  if  it  should  be  left  out 
long  enough  in  a  soaking  rain.  Of  course  a  book  never  should 
be  left  out  in  a  rain,  but  of  course  it  sometimes  is.  So  I  want 
a  book  that  will  suffer  no  greater  harm  than  to  have  the  cover 
come  off  if  it  should  be  rain-soaked.  It  must  be  stitched  together 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


49 


through  the  middle,  so  that  the  one  set  of  stitches  does  the  whole 
business,  the  first  leaf  being  continuous  with  the  last  leaf,  the 
second  continuous  with  the  next  to  the  last,  and  so  on. 

HISTORY  OF  QUEENS. 

While  the  record-book  is  very  important  to  keep  track  of 
the  work  from  day  to  day,  it  is  perhaps  more  important  for  the 
purpose  of  tracing  the  history  of  queens  from  year  to  year.  On 
each  page  is  left  a  margin  of  about  %  of  an  inch.  In  that 
margin  is  put  the  last  two  figures  of  the  year  in  which  the  queen 
is  born,  ’99  if  she  was  born  in  1899,  ’01  if  in  1901,  and  so  on. 
In  that  margin  is  also  found  anything  important  to  have  record¬ 
ed  about  the  queen.  “  Very  cross  ”  may  be  in  the  margin  if  the 
workers  distinguish  themselves  in  that  direction ;  11  seals  white  ” 
if  the  capping  of  sections  was  uncommonly  white;  “dark”  if 
the  workers  wete  tifiiisu&lly  dark,  etc.  Especially  am  I  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  memoranda  in  the  margin  relating  to  swarming  and 
storing.  You  will  find  sw  if  the  colony  of  that  queen  swarmed 
last  year;  no  c  if  no  queen-cells  were  found  in  the  hive  during 
the  whole  of  last  season;  2k  if  I  twice  killed  queen-cells  that 
were  started.  No  doubt  the  printer  will  feel  like  putting  some 
periods  after  these  contractions.  Please  don’t  do  it,  Mr.  Printer, 
for  T  never  take  time  to  use  any  such  embellishments  when 
making  entries.  The  number  of  sections  stored  by  the  progeny 
of  the  queen  the  preceding  year  has  a  place  in  this  margin ;  24 
sec  if  24  sections  were  stored;  160  sec  if  so  many  sections  were 
stored.  If  an  unusual  number  of  sections  was  reached,  that 
record  follows  the  queen  as  long  as  she  lives.  For  instance,  in 
the  year  1902  there  may  be  found  in  one  case  in  the  margin, 
44  sec,  60  sec  in  1900,  178  in  99.  That  means  that  the  progeny 
of  that  queen  stored  44  sections  in  the  preceding  year,  1901,  60 
sections  in  1900,  and  178  sections  in  1899.  An  unusual  record, 
considering  the  character  of  the  seasons  in  1900  and  1901.  If, 
in  the  year  1902,  a  1900  queen  is  by  any  means  replaced  by  a 
young  queen,  a  line  is  drawn  through  the  00  and  02  is  written 
below  it. 

As  soon  as  I  have  entered  in  the  record  t lie  old  numbers 
that  were  on  the  hives,  as  previously  mentioned,  I  am  ready  to 
enter  the  respective  ages  of  the  queens.  If,  for  instance,  I  find 


50 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


at  the  beginning,  No.  1  (231),  i  turn  to  No.  231  in  last  year’s 
record  and  find  the  year  set  clown  for  the  age  of  the  queen,  and 
{nit  it  in  the  new  book  at  No.  1.  This  I  do  throughout  all  the 
numbers. 


ADVANTAGE  OF  BOOK  FOR  RECORD. 

I  do  not  need  to  be  in  the  apiary  to  do  this  work;  it  can  be 
done  in  the  house  just  as  well.  Indeed  I  spend  a  good  deal  of 
time  in  the  house  with  my  record-book,  studying  and  planning, 


Fig.  16 — Entrance-closers. 


perhaps  lying  on  the  lounge.  I  had  two  out-apiaries,  one  three 
miles  north  at  Jack  Wilson’s,  on  the  old  farm  where  my  wife 
was  born ;  the  other  five  miles  southeast  at  cousin  Hastings’. 
Frequently  I  studied  my  book  most  of  the  way  in  going  to  one 
of  these  apairies,  making  my  plans,  and  jotting  down  memoran¬ 
da  of  what  was  to  be  done  when  I  got  there.  That  saves  time. 
Another  advantage  is  that  my  records  are  safe  from  interfer¬ 
ence,  for  with  slates,  stones,  etc.,  in  the  apiary,  there  is  always 
danger  that  records  may  be  changed,  either  through  accident  or 
mischievous  design.  One  disadvantage  of  the  book  is  the  danger 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


51 


of  forgetting  it.  One  may  forget  it  at  an  out-apiary,  and  then 
have  to  make  a  special  trip  to  get  it.  I’ve  clone  that. 

SPRING  OVERHAULING. 

After  the  bees  are  hauled  to  the  out-apiaries,  I  am  ready 
for  the  spring  overhauling  as  soon  as  the  weather  is  right  for  it. 
I  do  not  want  to  open  up  the  hives  except  at  a  time  when  it  is 
warm  enough  for  bees  to  fly  freely.  Too  much  danger  of  chill¬ 
ing  the  brood.  Sometimes  there  may  come  one  good  day  followed 
by  a  week  of  weather  too  bad  for  bees  to  fly.  So  I  may  com¬ 
mence  overhauling  in  April,  and  perhaps  not  till  in  May;  and 
if  I  do  commence  in  April  I  may  not  get  all  done  till  well  on  in 
May. 

HIVE-SEAT. 

Having  due  regard  for  my  own  comfort,  I  want  a  seat  when 
I  work  at  a  hive.  Mr.  Doolittle  once  tried  to  poke  fun  at  me  in 
convention,  because  I  accidentally  admitted  that  I  sat  down  to 
work  at  bees.  If  I  were  obliged  to  work  all  the  season  without 
a  seat,  I  am  afraid  I  would  have  to  give  up  the  business  from 
exhaustion.  Moreover,  if  I  had  the  strength  of  a  Samson  I  don’t 
think  I  should  waste  it  stooping  over  hives,  so  long  as  I  could 
get  a  seat.  I  generally  have  three  or  four  seats  about  the  apiary, 
and  they  may  not  all  be  of  the  same  kind.  A  common  glass-box 
is  more  used  than  any  other.  To  make  it  convenient  for  carry¬ 
ing,  a  strap  of  leather  or  cloth  may  be  nailed  to  two  diagonally 
opposite  corners  on  the  bottom.  Or  the  cover  may  be  nailed  on 
the  box  with  a  hand-hole  in  the  middle.  The  box  being  of  three 
different  dimensions,  one  has  a  choice  as  to  height  of  seat.  It  is 
a  little  curious  to  know  what  a  difference  there  is  in  this  respect 
as  to  the  preferences  of  different  persons.  My  assistant  never 
uses  the  highest  seat  the  box  affords,  while  I  never  use  the  lowest. 

Fig.  18  shows  a  hive-seat  with  a  strap-handle,  the  kind  1 
prefer;  Fig.  19  shows  one  with  hand-hole,  which  my  assistant 
prefers. 

A  DIGRESSION. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  digress  a  little,  and  tell  you  about  my 
help.  Years  ago,  my  wife,  her  sister  Emma,  and  sometimes  my 


u‘  OF  in* 


52 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


boy  Charlie  (1  have  no  other  children),  all  worked  with  me  at 
the  bees.  Those  were  delightful  days.  I  think  Charlie  would 
have  made  a  very  bright  beekeeper,  but  somehow  lie  did  not  take 
kindly  to  the  business,  and  has  spent  his  later  years  in  the  army 
and  government  service.  My  wife  is  one  of  the  sort  who  is  never 
happy  unless  she  is  doing  something  for  some  one  else,  so  for 
years  she  lias  been  confined  to  the  house  so  as  to  help  make  a 
pleasant  home  for  others,  sometimes  of  my  relatives,  sometimes 
of  hers.  Ever  since  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  there  has  dwelt  with  us  my  wife’s  mother,  Mrs. 
Margaret  Wilson,  a  blessed  old  Scotch  saint,  whose  presence  in 
the  home  I  feel  to  be  much  like  the  presence  of  the  ark  in  the 
house  of  Obed-Edom,  when  u  it  was  told  king  David,  saying, 
The  Lord  hath  blessed  the  house  of  Obed-Edom,  and  all  that 
pertaineth  unto  him,  because  of  the  ark  of  God.”  She  is  a  great 
consumer  of  honey,  and  her  temper  is  correspondingly  sweet. 

ASSISTANT  BEEKEEPER. 

So  for  a  number  of  years  Miss  Emma  M.  Wilson  has  given 
me  the  only  assistance  I  have  had  in  the  apiary.  Hired  help 
does  some  such  work  as  carrying  out  and  hauling  bees,  putting 
together  hives,  etc.,  unloading  honey  brought  from  the  out- 
apiary,  taking  sections  out  of  supers,  etc.  Sometimes  it  has 
been  a  convenience  that  I  could  call  on  the  hired  help  in  the 
employ  of  my  good  brother-in-law,  Ghordis  Stull.  Ghordis  has 
the  place  pretty  well  filled  with  raspberries  and  strawberries, 
and  lie  is  ’way  up  in  such  matters.  Previous  to  his  occupancy 
of  the  place,  it  was  chiefly  in  grass,  for  I  could  give  no  attention 
to  cultivated  crops.  The  only  thing  1  pretend  to  oversee  of  the 
farm  work  is  the  cultivation  of  the  rose-beds.  I  could  hardly 
live  without  roses,  and  my  wife  is  an  expert  in  chrysanthemums. 
With  the  fruit  crop  1  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  except  with 
the  finished  product,  and  only  so  much  of  that  as  we  can  finish 
in  the  house — by  no  means  a  small  quantity. 

Miss  Wilson  was  a  school-teacher  with  health  run  down, 
and  in  1882  she  stopped  a  year  for  the  out-door  life  of  bee¬ 
keeping.  She  is  still  stopping.  Although  never  rugged  in  health, 
I  think  she  has  never  missed  a  day’s  work  in  the  apiary  during 
all  the  years  since,  when  there  was  work  to  be  done.  Small  of 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


53 


stature  and  frail  of  build,  she  yet  lias  a  remarkable  capacity  for 
work,  perhaps  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that  she  is  full-blooded 
Scotch,  and  she  will  go  through  more  colonies  in  a  day  than  I 
can,  do  my  best.  I  think,  however,  that  the  bees  prefer  just  a 
little  to  have  me  work  with  them.  They  have  more  time  to  get 
out  of  the  way,  and  not  so  many  of  them  get  killed. 

T-SUPER  SEAT. 

Well,  I  started  in  for  a  digression,  but  I  didn’t  mean  to 
write  a  history.  We  were  talking  about  seats.  Another  kind  of 
seat  is  made  of  an  old  T-super.  A  piece  of  lath  is  nailed  to  two 
opposite  diagonal  corners,  and  another  piece  nailed  to  the  other 
two  corners.  That  stiffens  and  strengthens  it,  so  it  makes  a 
good  seat  for  one  who  doesn’t  like  a  low  seat. 

HIVE-TOOLS. 

Of  all  the  hive-tools  I  have  tried,  I  like  best  the  Mueneh 
tool  (Fig.  20).  Its  broad  semi-circular  end  with  sharp  edge  can 
hardly  be  excelled  for  the  purpose  of  raising  covers  and  supers, 
and  when  the  other  end  is  thrust  between  two  frames,  a  quarter 
turn  separates  the  frames  with  the  least  possible  effort.  Miss 
Wilson  has  a  liking  for  the  Root  tool.  I  have  not  used  it  much, 
but  it  has  the  special  advantage  that  it  is  a  fine  scraper.  Beside 
tfie  hive-tool  for  opening  the  hive  and  starting  the  frames,  if  the 
hives  are  to  be  cleaned  out  another  tool  is  needed. 

After  trying  a  number  of  different  things  for  hive-cleaners. 
I  have  been  best  satisfied  with  a  hatchet,  the  handle  sawed  short, 
so  that  it  will  not  be  in  the  way  when  working  in  the  bottom  of 
the  hive,  the  edge  dull  and  a  perfectly  straight  line,  and  the 
outside  part  of  the  blade  also  ground  to  a  straight  line  and  at 
right  angles  with  the  edge.  This  right-angled  corner  is  to  clean 
out  the  corners  of  the  hive.  In  cleaning,  the  hatchet  is  moved 
rapidly  back  and  forth,  or  rather  from  side  to  side,  the  blade 
being  held  at  right  angles  to  the  surface  being  cleaned.  The 
weight  of  the  hatchet  is  quite  a  help,  something  like  a  fly-wheal 
in  machinery. 

It  would  be  a  nice  thing  to  clean  the  propolis  out  of  all 
hives  every  spring,  because  I  am  in  a  region  for  profitable 


54 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


propolis  production  if  it  ever  comes  to  be  a  staple  article  of 
commerce;  but  it  takes  some  time  to  clean  the  hives,  and  it  is 
not  done  every  spring. 


CLEANING  HIVES. 

If  the  hives  are  to  be  cleaned,  an  empty  clean  hive  is  ready 
in  advance.  The  empty  hive  is  placed  at  right  angles  to  the 


Fig.  17 — Record-books 

hive  to  be  overhauled,  the  back  end  of  the  empty  hive  near  the 
front  end  of  the  other  hive,  thus  leaving  plenty  of  room  for  my 
seat  beside  the  full  hive,  and  leaving  the  empty  hive  within  easy 
reach. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


OPENING  HIVE. 

A  single  puff  at  the  entrance  if  the  smoker  is  going  well, 
or  two  or  three  puffs  if  it  is  yet  scarcely  under  headway,  notifies 
the  guards  that  they  needn’t  bother  to  come  out  if  they  feel  a 
little  jar.  The  cover  is  cracked  open  the  least  bit  at  one  corner 
by  the  tool,  then  the  other  corner  is  cracked  open  and  the  cover 
lifted.  It  could  be  lifted  without  using  the  tool  twice,  simply 
prying  up  one  corner  enough,  but  that  would  jar  the  bees  more, 
and  excite  them.  The  desire  is  to  get  along  with  the  smallest 
amount  of  jar  possible,  for  the  queen  is  to  be  found,  and  too 
much  smoke  or  jarring  will  set  the  bees  to  running  so  the  queen 
cannot  be  found.  As  soon  as  the  cover  is  raised,  a  little  smoke 
is  blown  across  the  tops  of  the  frames,  not  down  into  the  hive. 
While  it  is  bad  to  use  too  much  smoke,  it  is  also  bad  to  use  too 
little,  for  if  the  bees  are  once  thoroughly  aroused  it  takes  more 
smoke  to  subdue  them  than  it  does  to  keep  them  under  in  the 
first  place. 

TAKING  OUT  FRAMES. 

.  •'  i*. 

.  A 

When  the  cover  is  removed  the  dummy  is  taken  out.  If  the 
dummy  was  on  the  near  side,  the  frames  are  all  crowded  to  that 
side,  allowing  me  to  lift  out  the  further  frame.  Whether  that 
further  frame  is  now  to  be  put  into  the  empty  hive  depends 
upon  circumstances.  It  is  to  be  put  in  if  the  next  frame  con¬ 
tains  brood;  otherwise  not.  For  I  want  the  brood-nest  to  begin 
with  the  frame  next  to  the  further  outside  frame,  at  least  that  is 
generally  the  way.  Then  I  can  tell  at  any  time  afterward  how 
many  frames  of  brood  are  in  a  hive,  merely  by  finding  where 
the  brood  begins  on  the  side  next  me.  One  after  another  the 
frames  are  changed  into  the  empty  hive,  making  sure  that  at 
least  those  containing  brood  maintain  their  original  relative 
positions. 

When  the  old  hive  is  empty,  then  it  is  set  off  the  stand  and 
the  other  takes  its  place.  The  order  of  proceeding  may  be 
changed  by  first  setting  the  full  hive  off  the  stand  and  putting 
the  empty  one  in  its  place.  Or  the  change  may  be  made  when 
half  the  frames  have  changed  their  places.  The  last  makes  the 
lifting  a  little  lighter,  but  takes  more  time. 


5(5 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


The  empty  hive  is  now  to  be  cleaned  out,  the  hatchet  being' 
used  for  all  but  the  rabbet,  which  is  a  separate  contract.  Pro¬ 
polis  is  used  in  large  quantities  in  my  locality,  and  the  trough 
formed  by  the  tin  rabbet  will,  in  the  course  of  years,  become 
completely  tilled. 

In  the  matter  of  propolis,  there  is  a  difference  in  bees  as 
well  as  localities.  The  worst  daubers  I  ever  had  were  the  so- 
called  Panics  or  Tunisians  from  the  north  of  Africa.  One  colony 


Fig.  18 — Hive-seat  with  Strap-handle. 


put  so  much  propolis  at  an  upper  entrance  that  1  rolled  up  a 
ball  of  it  somewhere  between  the  size  of  a  hickorynut  and  a 
blackwalnut. 

To  clean  out  the  rabbet,  the  small  end  of  the  hive-tool  is 
well  adapted.  Holding*  it  perpendicularly,  with  the  edge  of  the 
tool  diagonally  in  the  trough,  I  play  it  backward  and  forward 
until  the  trough  is  emptied  of  propolis.  Still  better  is  a  screw¬ 
driver,  rather  sharp,  ground  to  just  the  right  width  to  fit  easily 
in  the  trough. 

The  empty  hive  is  now  used  to  take  the  place  of  the  next 
hive  to  be  overhauled,  which  in  its  turn  is  cleaned  and  then  used 
again,  and  so  on. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


57 


While  the  frames  are  being  changed  from  one  hive  to  the 
other,  observations  and  necessary  changes  are  made.  If  there 
is  no  cleaning  of  hives,  then  the  work  is  shortened.  The  dummy 
is  taken  out,  and  one  frame  is  also  taken  out  so  as  to  leave  freer 
working  room.  This  one  frame  may  be  put  in  an  empty  hive 
standing  convenient;  or  it  may  be  leaned  against  the  hive  being 
operated  on,  or  against  an  adjoining  hive.  If  the  dummy  was 
on  the  near  side,  then  the  frames  are  all  pushed  toward  me,  two 
or  three  being  started  at  a  time,  and  when  all  are  started  the 
tool  is  pushed  down  between  the  further  frame  and  the  side  of 
the  hive,  and  all  the  frames  at  one  push  shoved  toward  me 
enough  to  give  plenty  of  room  at  the  further  side.  If  the  frames 
are  Hoffman  (a  few  hives  contain  Hoffman  frames)  then  it  is 
necessary  to  start  each  frame  separately  before  it  can  be  lifted 
out. 

WATCHING  FOR  QUEEN. 

As  the  frames  are  being  handled,  the  thing  that  receives 
closer  attention  than  anything  else  is  to  see  the  queen  so  as  to 
know  whether  she  is  clipped  or  not.  For  if  a  colony  should 
have  an  unclipped  queen  there  is  a  fair  chance  that  it  might 
swarm  and  decamp;  and  it  is  possible  that  almost  any  colony 
may  have  superseded  its  queen  the  previous  fall,  leaving  it  with 
an  unclipped  queen. 

IMPLEMENT  FOR  CLIPPING. 

If  the  queen  is  unclipped,  of  course  I  clip  her.  Nearly 
always  I  use  a  pair  of  scissors  for  clipping,  although  I  have 
tried  a  knife.  The  strongest  argument  in  favor  of  the  knife  is 
that  a  knife  is  always  on  hand.  Rut  it  is  as  easy  to  have  a  pair 
of  scissors  on  hand.  They  may  be  tied  to  the  record-book,  and 
the  record-book  is  sure  to  be  always  on  hand.  Most  of  the  time 
I  have  had  a  pair  of  embroidery  scissors  tied  to  my  record-book 
with  a  string  long  enough  to  allow  the  scissors  to  be  freely  used, 
but  I  have  been  surprised  to  find  that  much  larger  scissors  will 
do  very  good  work.  Latterly  I  have  used  a  common  pair  of 
gentleman’s  pocket  scissors,  and  I  am  not  sure  but  I  like  them 
as  well  as  the  embroidery  scissors.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  have  a 


58 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


pair  of  these  as  a  knife  constantly  in  the  pocket.  To  make  good 
work  clipping,  a  knife  should  he  very  sharp,  and  I  find  it  is 
harder  to  have  a  sharp  knife  constantly  on  hand  than  a  sharp 
pair  of  scissors.  Neither  is  it  so  necessary  that  the  scissors  be 
sharp. 

FINDING  QUEEN. 

Before  a  queen  is  clipped  she  must  be  found.  I  have  seen 
some  attempt  at  rules  for  finding  a  queen,  but  after  all  is  said, 
you  must  do  more  or  less  hunting  for  a  queen  if  you  would 
find  her.  I  generally  begin  looking  on  the  first  frame  of  brood 
I  come  to— hardly  worth  while  to  look  on  any  frame  before  the 
brood  is  reached — and  as  I  raise  the  frame  out  of  the  hive  I 
keep  watch  of  the  side  next  me.  Then  when  the  frame  is  lifted 
out  of  the  hive,  before  looking  at  the  opposite  side,  I  glance  at 
the  nearest  side  of  the  next  frame  in  the  hive;  for  it  requires 
scarcely  any  time  to  do  this,  and  if  she  happens  to  be  in  sight 
it  will  be  a  saving  of  time  to  lift  out  immediately  the  frame  she 
is  on.  Not  seeing  her  on  the  frame  in  the  hive,  I  look  over  both 
sides  of  the  frame  in  my  hand,  and  continue  thus  through  all 
the  frames.  Although  it  was  not  worth  while  to  look  for  her 
on  any  comb  before  the  brood-nest  was  reached,  it  is  worth 
while  to  look  for  her  on  the  comb  or  combs  remaining  after 
passing  over  those  that  contain  brood,  for  in  trying  to  get  away 
from  the  light  she  will  go  on  to  the  outside  combs. 

This  trying  to  get  away  from  the  light  on  the  part  of  the 
queen,  by  going  from  one  comb  to  the  other,  makes  me  go  over 
the  combs  as  rapidly  as  possible  without  looking  too  closely,  for 
if  I  do  not  see  her  with  a  slight  looking,  the  chances  are  that 
she  is  on  another  comb,  and  I  count  it  better  to  run  the  chance 
of  going  over  the  combs  again,  rather  than  to  go  too  slowly. 
For  if  one  goes  over  the  combs  slowly  enough,  it  is  a  pretty  safe 
thing  to  say  that  the  queen  will  be  driven  clear  to  the  other  side 
of  the  hive. 

My  assistant,  however,  who  is  an  expert  at  finding  queens, 
holds  a  different  theory,  and  as  a  consequence  her  practice  is 
different.  She  thinks  it  better  to  go  more  slowly  and  make  sure 
of  finding  the  queen  first  time  going  over.  She  takes  more  time 
to  go  over  the  combs  the  first  time,  but  she  doesn’t  often  have  to 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


59 


go  over  the  combs  a  second  time ;  so  perhaps  one  way  is  as  good 
as  the  other. 

If  the  queen  is  not  found  the  second  time  going  over,  she 
may  be  found  the  third  time,  but  it  is  quite  possible  that  she  is 
hid  in  such  a  way  that  it  may  be  impossible  to  find  her  with  long 


Fig.  19 — Hive-seat  with  Hand-holes. 

searching.  So  it  is  economy  to  close  the  hive,  and  try  it  again 
another  day,  or  at  least  to  wait  half  an  hour. 

AIDS  TO  FINDING  QUEEN. 

If,  for  some  special  reason,  it  is  very  important  to  find  the' 
queen  without  any  postponement,  sometimes  the  combs  are  put 
in  pairs.  Two  of  the  combs  are  put  in  an  empty  hive,  the  two 
being  close  together;  then  another  pair  is  put  an  inch  or  more 
distant  from  the  first  pair,  and  the  remaining  combs  in  the  hive 
on  the  stand  are  arranged  in  pairs  the  same  way.  Wherever  the 
queen  is,  it  will  not  be  long  before  she  will  be  in  the  middle  of 


00 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


whatever  pair  of  combs  she  is  on.  Going'  on  with  work  at 
another  hive,  I  return  after  a  little,  and  look  again  for  the 
queen.  Lifting  out  the  comb  nearest  me,  1  look  first  on  the  side 
of  its  mate  in  the  hive,  and  if  I  do  not  see  the  queen  there,  I 
quickly  look  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  comb  in  my  hand.  I  am 
pretty  sure  to  find  her  in  the  middle  of  one  of  the  pairs. 


Fig.  20 — Muench  I  Live-tool. 

If  the  pairs  are  sufficiently  separated  from  each  other  (I 
don’t  mean  the  two  combs  of  each  pair  separated,  for  the  two 
combs  in  each  pair  should  be  as  close  together  as  possible,  but 
that  one  pair  should  be  far  enough  from  another  pair  so  that 
the  bees  should  not  communicate),  the  bees  will,  after  standing 
long  enough,  show  signs  of  uneasiness  by  running  over  the 
combs,  all  but  the  one  pair  that  has  the  queen  on,  and  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


61 


quietness  of  the  bees  on  that  oiie  pair  is  sufficient  warrant  for 
seeking  the  queen  there. 

If  the  bees  get  to  running,  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to 
continue  the  search  for  the  queen  until  they  have  quieted  down. 
Sometimes  she  will  be  on  the  side  or  the  bottom  of  the  hive,  and 
will  be  found  only  by  lifting  out  all  the  combs. 


BEE-STRAINER. 

A  strainer  may  be  used  for  straining  the  bees  through  and 
leaving  the  queen.  A  queen-excluder  is  fastened  to  the  bottom 
of  an  empty  hive-body,  and  that  makes  the  strainer.  The 
strainer  is  set  over  a  hive-body  in  which  there  is  a  frame  of 
brood  but  no  bees — at  least  it  must  be  certain  that  the  queen 
cannot  possibly  be  in  the  hive-body  under  the  strainer.  Then 
•all  the  bees  are  shaken  and  brushed  from  the  combs  into  the 
strainer.  The  workers  will  go  down  through  the  excluder,  being 
hurried  by  a  little  smoke  if  necessary,  while  the  queen  will  be 
left  in  the  strainer. 

On  the  whole  the  queen  is  generally  found  so  easily  by  the 
ordinary  looking  over  the  combs  that  it  is  seldom  that  any  other 
plan  is  resorted  to. 

It  happens  once  in  a  great  while  that  the  queen  is  on  the 
cover  when  it  is  lifted  off  the  hive,  so  it  is  well  to  glance  over 
the  under  surface  of  the  cover  as  it  is  removed  from  the  hive. 
Once  in  a  great  while  I  have  known  the  queen  after  no  little 
searching  to  be  on  the  shoulder  or  some  other  part  of  the 
operator.  How  she  managed  to  get  there  I  don’t  know. 

catching  the  queen. 

When  the  queen  is  found,  she  must  be  caught  before  she  is 
clipped.  I  want  to  catch  her  by  the  thorax  or  just  back  of  the 
thorax,  and  if  she  is  in  motion,  by  the  time  I  reach  for  the 
thorax  it  will  have  passed  along  out  of  reach.  So  I  make  a 
reach  more  as  if  attempting  to  catch  her  by  the  head,  and  the 
movement  she  makes  is  likely  to  bring  my  thumb  and  finger 
down  on  each  side  of  her  thorax,  and  in  that  position  she  is  held 
firmly  on  the  comb  (Fig.  21).  There  is  no  danger  of  hurting 
the  queen  by  giving  a  pretty  hard  squeeze  on  the  thorax,  and 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


62 

indeed  there  is  not  so  very  much  danger  if  the  hold  is  further 
back  and  the  abdomen  gets  a  little  squeeze. 

Then  the  thumb  and  finger  are  slid  up  off  the  thorax,  at  the 
same  time  pressed  together,  and  this  gives  me  a  grip  on  the 
wings,  when  she  is  lifted  from  the  comb,  fairly  caught  (Fig.  22). 

All  this  is  done  with  the  right  hand,  generally,  although 
occasionally  she  is  caught  with  the  left  hand.  At  any  rate,  she 
is  now  shifted  to  the  left  hand,  and  held  between  the  thumb 
and  finger,  back  up,  head  and  thorax  between  thumb  and  finger, 
head  pointing  to  the  left,  ready  to  clip  (Fig.  23). 

CLIPPING  THE  QUEEN. 

Then  one  blade  of  the  scissors  is  slipped  under  the  two 
wings  of  one  side,  and  they  are  cut  off  as  short  as  they  can 
conveniently  be  clipped  (Fig.  24). 

The  queen  will  be  just  as  liehpless  about  flying  if  only  the 
larger  wing  on  one  side  is  clipped,  and  clipping  the  one  wing 
will  not  mar  her  looks  so  much,  but  when  a  queen  is  scurrying 
across  a  comb,  or  when  you  get  just  a  glimpse  of  her  in  the 
hive,  it  is  much  easier  to  tell  at  a  glance  that  she  is  clipped  if 
both  wings  on  one  side  are  cut  off. 

ADVANTAGE  OF  CLIPPING. 

Although  nowadays  the  practice  of  clipping  has  become 
quite  general,  there  are  a  few  who  doubt  its  advisability.  I 
would  not  like  to  dispense  with  clipping  if  I  kept  only  one 
apiary  and  were  on  hand  all  the  time,  and  with  out-apiaries  and 
no  one  to  watch  them  it  seems  a  necessity.  If  a  colony  swarms 
with  a  clipped  queen,  it  cannot  go  off.  True,  the  queen  may 
possibly  be  lost,  but  it  is  better  to  lose  the  queen  than  to  lose 
both  bees  and  queen. 

If  there  were  no  other  reason  for  it,  I  should  want  my 
queens  clipped  for  the  sake  of  keeping  a  proper  record  of  them. 
A  colony,  for  example,  distinguishes  itself  by  storing  more  than 
any  other  colony.  I  want  to  breed  next  spring  from  the  queen 
of  that  colony.  But  she  may  be  superseded  in  the  fall  after  that 
big  harvest j  and  if  she  is  not  clipped  there  is  no  way  for  me  to 
tell  in  the  following  season  whether  she  has  been  superseded  or 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


not.  Indeed  1  can  hardly  see  how  it  is  possible  to  keep  proper 
track  of  a  queen  without  having  her  clipped. 

Sometimes  when  a  queen  is  being  found,  she  will  quickly 
run  under  and  out  of  the  way,  giving  one  a  mere  glimpse  of  her, 
so  that  it  is  not  easy  to  say  whether  it  was  a  queen  or  a  worker 
that  was  seen,  in  which  case  the  missing  wings  aid  in  recogniz¬ 
ing  her.  To  this,  however,  it  may  be  replied  that  there  is  less 
need  to  find  queens  where  they  are  not  kept  clipped. 


Fig.  21 — Catching  the  Queen. 


BEE-SMOKERS. 

You  who  have  used  smokers  ever  since  you  began  working 
with  bees  hardly  know  how  to  appreciate  them.  At  least  it  is 
doubtful  if  you  appreciate  them  as  much  as  you  would  if  you 
had  done  as  I  did  when  I  first  began  beekeeping,  going  around 
with  a  pan  of  coals  and  a  burning  brand  on  it,  or  else  a  lighted 
piece  of  rotten  wood  (indeed  this  last  was  quite  an  improve¬ 
ment  over  the  first),  the  only  bellows  I  had  being  a  sound  pair 
of  lungs.  Any  one  of  the  various  makes  of  smokers  I  have 
tried  will  do  quite  satisfactory  work.  I  have  used  up  more 
Clark  smokers  than  any  others.  Although  low  in  price,  the 


64 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Clark  is  really  more  expensive  than  any  other.  It  works  beau¬ 
tifully  while  new,  but  the  “  new  ”  wears  off  entirely  too  soon. 
The  bellows  becomes  incapacitated  by  reason  of  the  smoke 
sucked  into  it,  and  then  there  is  no  good  way  to  clean  it  out. 

CONTINUOUS  AND  CUT-OFF  BLAST. 

The  Bingham,  Corned,  Crane,  and  others,  are  all  good. 
The  cut-off  blast  lengthens  the  life  of  a  smoker,  but  shortens  its 
blast.  The  continuous  blast,  as  in  the  Clark,  allows  one  to  send 
the  smoke  with  more  force,  but,  as  already  mentioned,  shortens 
the  life  of  the  smoke!*,  because  the  bellows  become  foul  with 
smoke.  The  Crane  has  the  advantage  of  the  full  strength  of 
blast  without  the  weakening  of  the  cut-off,  and  works  in  perfec¬ 
tion  for  a  long  time.  Still,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  metal  valve 
becomes  dirty,  and  it  must  be  cleaned.  Fortunately  the  part 
containing  the  valve  can  be  taken  off,  allowing  all  to  be  made 
just  as  clean  as  when  new.  It  takes  quite  a  bit  of  time  to  do 
this,  but  it  is  time  well  spent,  and  one  cleaning  a  year,  even 
with  heavy  use,  is  sufficient.  Those  who  do  not  care  for  so 
strong  a  blast  will  prefer  a  Bingham,  Corned,  or  other  smoker 
with  a  cut-off,  never  needing  to  be  cleaned,  while  those  who  like 
the  strong  blast  will  be  willing  to  spend  the  time  occasionally 
cleaning  the  Crane.  The  latest  Root  smokers  are  the  favorite 
of  all. 

CLEATS  ON  SMOKERS. 

Using  a  smoker  all  day  long  is  a  hard  thing  on  the  muscles 
that  work  the  bellows,  and  the  stiffer  the  spring  of  the  bellows 
the  more  tiresome  the  work.  But  unless  the  spring  be  quite 
stiff,  the  smoker  will  drop  out  of  the  hand  when  the  grasp  is 
relaxed  so  as  to  allow  the  bellows  to  open.  I  think  it  was  W. 
L.  Coggshall  who  suggested  little  cleats  on  the  smoker,  and 
these  cleats  have  given  great  satisfaction.  They  are  merely 
strips  of  wood  one-fourth  inch  by  one-eighth,  extending  across 
the  upper  end  of  each  bellows-board  and  half  way  down  the 
sides  (Fig.  80).  The  sharp  edges  of  the  cleats  cling  to  the 
fingers,  allowing  the  spring  to  be — I  don’t  know  just  how  much 
weaker,  but  I  should  guess  only  half  as  strong  as  without  cleats. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


65 


Most  of  the  latest  smokers  are  now  made  so  that  no  cleats  are 
needed. 


SMOKER-FUEL. 

It  is  a  matter  of  much  importance  to  have  plenty  of  the 
right  fuel  and  lighting  material.  Time  is  precious  during  the 


Fig.  22 — Caught! 

busy  season,  and  it  is  trying  on  the  temper  to  have  to  spend 
much  time  getting  a  smoker  started,  or  relighting  it  when  it  has 
gone  out.  There  are  a  great  many  different  things  that  can  be 
used  for  fuel,  and  it  is  largely  a  matter  of  convenience  as  to 
what  is  best  for  each  one.  Pine  needles,  rotten  wood,  sound 
wood,  excelsior  rammed  down  hard,  planer  shavings,  greasy 


66 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


cotton-waste  thrown  away  along  the  railroad,  peat,  rags,  corn¬ 
cobs,  old  bags — in  fact  almost  anything  that  will  burn  may  be 
used  in  a  smoker.  Whatever  is  used,  however,  there  should  be 
a  good  stock  of  it  on  hand  thoroughly  dry,  with  no  chance  for 
the  rain  to  reach  it. 


GREEN  FUEL. 

And  yet  there  are  times  when  something  green  is  better. 
When  a  continuous  and  strong  smoke  is  wanted,  after  a  hot 
fire  has  been  started  in  the  smoker,  it  is  a  good  thing  to  fill  the 
smoker  with  green  sticks  from  a  growing  tree.  The  hot  fire 
and  the  continuous  blowing  makes  it  burn  freely,  and  the  smoke 
from  green  wood  is  sharper  than  that  from  dry. 

But  it  is  only  on  special  occasions  that  it  is  desirable  to 
have  green  wood,  and  it  should  at  all  other  times  be  not  only 
dry  but  very  dry.  Nothing  is  better  as  a  standard  fuel  than 
sound  hard  wood  sawed  into  proper  lengths  and  split  up  into 
pieces  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick.  The  only  objection  is 
that  such  wood  is  rather  expensive,  for  it  takes  a  great  deal  of 
time  to  prepare  it.  Much  the  same  thing  without  the  cost  of 
preparation  may  be  had  at  any  woodpile  where  hard  wTood  has 
been  chopped — I  mean  the  chips  to  be  found  there — and  that 
has  been  the  favorite  smoker-fuel  “  in  this  locality  ”  for  some 
time.  When  the  weather  is  dry,  the  chips  may  be  picked  up  in 
the  chip-yard  and  filled  directly  into  the  smoker,  but  a  stock  is 
always  kept  on  hand  well  coverd  up,  ready  to  use  immediately 
after  the  heaviest  shower  of  rain. 

SMOKER-KINDLING. 

When  live  coals  are  at  hand  in  the  cook-stove,  nothing  is 
handier  than  to  put  a  few  of  them  in  the  smoker  to  start  the 
fire.  These  are  not  always  at  hand.  I  have  used  for  kindling 
carpenter’s  shavings,  kerosene,  rotten  wood  of  some  hard  wood, 
especially  apple,  that  kind  of  rotten  wood  that  is  somewhat 
spongy  and  will  be  sure  to  burn  if  the  least  spark  touches  it — 
all  these  have  given  more  or  less  satisfaction,  but  nothing  quite 
so  much  as  saltpeter-rags.  Like  the  right  kind  of  rotten  wood, 
the  least  spark  will  light  a  saltpeter-rag  so  that  it  will  be  sure 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


67 


to  go,  but  it  is  not  so  slow  in  its  action  as  the  rotten  wood,  and 
makes  a  much  greater  heat,  so  that  chips  of  sound  hard  wood 
will  be  at  once  started  into  a  secure  fire. 

SALTPETER-RAGS. 

To  prepare  the  saltpeter-rags  a  crock  is  kept  constantly 
standing,  containing  a  solution  of  saltpeter.  The  strength  of 


Fig.  23 — Beady  for  Clipping. 


the  solution  is  not  a  matter  of  great  nicety.  A  quarter  or  half 
a  pound  of  saltpeter  may  be  used  to  a  gallon  of  water,  and  if  it 
evaporates  so  that  the  solution  becomes  stronger,  water  may  be 
added.  A  cotton  rag  dipped  in  this  solution  will  be  ready  for 
use  as  soon  as  dried.  As  a  matter  of  convenience,  quite  a  lot 
of  rags  are  prepared  at  a  time.  They  are  wrung  out  of  the 


68 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


solution  and  spread  out  to  dry  in  the  sun,  and  when  thoroughly 
dry  are  put  in  the  tool-basket,  which  always  contains  a  supply. 
When  taken  out  of  the  crock,  the  rags  may  be  wrung  quite  dry, 
thus  containing  not  so  much  saltpeter,  or  they  may  be  wrung 
out  just  enough  so  the  liquid  will  not  run  off  on  the  ground  and 
waste,  in  which  condition  they  will  be  strongly  dosed  with  salt¬ 
peter. 

A  plentiful  supply  of  dry  smoker-fuel,  with  a  correspond¬ 
ing  stock  of  saltpeter-rags,  is  a  great  saving  of  the  “  disposi¬ 
tion.” 

POUNDING  BEES  OFF  COMBS. 

Mention  was  made  of  getting  bees  off  combs.  Sometimes 
shaking  is  used  altogether,  sometimes  brushing,  and  sometimes 
both.  The  weight  of  the  comb  has  something  to  do  with  the 
manner  of  shaking.  The  most  of  the  shaking — in  fact  all  of 
the  shaking,  unless  the  combs  be  very  heavy  or  the  bees  be 
shaken  on  the  ground— is  done  as  shown  in  Fig.  26.  Perhaps  it 
might  better  be  called  pounding  bees  off  the  comb.  The  comb 
is  held  by  the  corner  with  one  hand,  while  the  other  hand 
pounds  sharply  on  the  hand  that  holds  the  comb.  By  this 
manner  of  pounding  I  can  get  almost  every  bee  off  a  comb  with 
a  few  strokes,  unless  the  comb  be  too  heavy. 

DOOLITTLE  PLAN  OF  SHAKING. 

With  a  very  heavy  comb,  Gr.  M.  Doolittle’s  plan  is  better, 
and  is  the  one  used.  Let  the  ends  of  the  top-bar  be  supported 
by  the  first  two  fingers  of  each  hand,  the  thumbs  some  distance 
above.  Keeping  the  thumb  and  fingers  well  apart,  let  the  frame 
drop,  and  as  it  drops  strike  it  hard  with  the  balls  of  the  thumbs, 
then  catch  it  with  the  fingers,  raise  it  and  repeat  the  operation. 
The  bees  are  jarred  both  up  and  down,  and  don’t  know  which 
way  to  brace  themselves  to  hold  on,  so  a  very  few  shakes  will 
get  most  of  them  off. 

PENDULUM  PLAN  OF  SHAKING. 

Often  it  is  desirable  to  shake  the  bees  back  into  the  hive. 
In  that  case  brushing  may  be  better  than  shaking,  but  the 
pounding  plan  serves  very  well.  A  space  may  be  made  by 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


69 


shoving  the  combs  apart,  and  the  frame  to  be  pounded  held  well 
down  in  the  hive.  But  many  times  it  is  as  well  to  shake  the 
bees  on  the  ground.  This  may  not  be  so  advisable  if  the  queen 
is  likely  to  be  among  the  shaken  bees.  Yet  I  have  often  shaken 
the  queen  off  among  the  bees  on  the  ground,  and  I  am  not  sure 
that  she  ever  failed  to  find  her  way  with  the  bees  back  into  the 
hive.  When  the  bees  are  to  be  shaken  on  the  ground  the  pen¬ 
dulum  plan  is  used  almost  altogether.  With  the  right  hand  I 
take  hold  of  one  end  of  the  top-bar,  letting  the  frame  hang 
with  the  bottom-bar  pointing  forward,  and  then  swinging  the 
frame  backward  like  a  pendulum  I  let  it  swing  again  forward, 
and  then  as  it  falls  back  I  let  the  lower  end  of  the  top-bar  strike 
the  ground  in  such  position  that  a  diagonal  from  the  point  that 
strikes  the  ground  to  the  opposite  end  of  the  bottom-bar  shall 
be  nearly  vertical.  It  is  easier  than  the  other  plans,  and  takes 
less  time. 

BEE-BRUSHES. 

Sometimes  it  is  not  desirable  to  get  all  the  bees  off,  in 
which  case,  or  with  very  light  combs,  no  brushing  is  needed. 
But  if  all  the  bees  are  to  be  cleaned  off,  and  the  combs  are  not 
very  light,  then  brushing  must  be  resorted  to.  I  know  of  no 
brush  better  than  one  made  of  some  growing  plant,  such  as 
asparagus,  sweet  clover,  goldenrocl,  aster,  etc. — no  little  bit  of 
a  thing,  but  a  good  big  bunch,  well  tied  together  with  a  string 
(Fig.  27). 

But  like  many  a  thing  that  costs  nothing,  these  weed 
brushes  are  too  expensive,  for  they  dry  up  so  that  a  fresh  one 
must  be  made  every  day,  and  that  takes  a  good  deal  of  time. 
So  I  generally  use  a  Coggshall  brush  (Fig  28).  The  essential 
thing  about  a  Coggshall  brush  is  that  it  must  be  made  of  long 
broom-corn  with  a  very  thin  brush,  and  not  trimmed  at  all  at 
the  ends.  One  of  these  is  always  in  the  tool-basket. 

Of  course  no  shaking  or  pounding  of  combs  is  admissible 
if  queen-cells  are  on  the  combs  that  are  considered  of  any  value. 

TOOL-BASKET. 

The  tool-basket  spoken  of  is  simply  a  common  splint 
basket  (Fig.  29).  At  different  times  I  have  had  different  ar- 


70 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


rangements  for  carrying  the  things  most  generally  needed,  at 
least  two  different  tool-boxes  having  been  made  for  that  special 
purpose  with  separate  compartments  for  the  various  articles. 
But  the  basket  is  lighter,  and  although  things  get  a  little  mixed 
up  in  it,  it  seems  to  have  the  preference  at  present.  At  one  time 
I  tried  to  keep  an  outfit  at  each  apiary — smoker,  hive-tools,  etc. 
— so  that  there  should  be  no  need  to  carry  anything  from  one 
apiary  to  another,  but  one  gets  used  to  tools  and  prefers  to  use 
the  same  ones  day  after  day,  so  the  basket  is  used. 

CONTENTS  OF  TOOL-BASKET. 

Of  course,  the  number  of  objects  carried  in  a  basket  must 
be  somewhat  limited.  The  bulkiest  part  is  the  apron,  sleeves, 
and  gloves  of  my  assistant.  The  record-book  must  always  be 
present.  Then  there  will  be  smokers,  hive-tools,  hammer,  cages, 
matches  (although  matches  are  always  kept  covered  with  the 
fuel  in  each  apiary),  saltpeter-rags,  nails,  and  any  other  light 
objects  that  may  happen  to  be  needed  at  any  particular  time. 
Of  course  there  will  be  heavier  articles,  not  convenient  to  carrv 
from  one  apiary  to  another,  and  each  apiary  must  have  its  own, 
as  a  hive  with  a  closed  entrance  and  a  robber-cloth,  ready  to 
contain  at  any  time  frames  of  brood  or  honey  safe  from  rob¬ 
bers.  Generally,  however,  there  will  be  no  need  to  be  so  careful 
against  robbers,  and  the  one  or  two  frames  lifted  out  of  a  hive 
will  be  leaned  up  against  it,  taking  pains  to  stand  any  frame 
where  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun  may  not  strike  too  directly  upon 
it,  and  to  stand  it  up  straight  enough  so  it  will  not  sag  with  its 
own  weight. 


BESTING  FRAMES  DIAGONALLY  IN  HIVE. 

With  one  frame  out  of  the  hive  there  will  be  room  enough 
for  the  rest  to  be  moved  about  in  the  hive,  and  returned  to  it 
as  soon  as  examined.  Sometimes  when  it  is  desired  to  set  a 
frame  back  in  the  hive  very  quickly,  or  when  a  queen  has  been 
caught  and  is  held  in  the  fingers,  so  that  the  frame  must  be 
handled  by  one  hand,  it  is  convenient  to  set  the  frame  in  the 
hive  resting  diagonallly,  as  shown  in  Fig.  36.  The  frame  is 
lowered  till  one  end  of  the  top-bar  rests  upon  one  rabbet,  and 
then  the  bottom-bar  is  allowed  to  rest  upon  the  other  rabbet. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES  71 

Perhaps  oftener,  however,  I  use  both  hands  to  handle  a 
frame,  even  while  holding  a  queen  in  one  hand.  While  searching 
for  the  queen  the  frame  is  held  in  both  hands,  and  as  soon  as 
she  is  seen  the  end  of  the  frame  held  by  the  right  hand  is  rested 
upon  the  hive,  the  right  hand  catches  the  queen,  and  she  is  then 
allowed  to  run  upon  the  leg  of  my  trousers,  upon  the  thigh  (it 


Fig.  24 — Clipping  the  Queen. 

is  an  exceedingly  rare  thing  that  a  laying  queen  will  offer  to 
fly),  and  then  I  catch  her  in  the  hollow  of  my  right  hand,  hold¬ 
ing  her  in  the  hollow  formed  by  the  three  fingers,  while  with  the 
thumb  and  forefinger  I  am  free  to  handle  the  frame  at  leisure. 

BEES  BALLING  QUEEN. 

When  a  colony  is  being  overhauled,  it  sometimes  happens 
that  the  queen  is  found  balled.  This  balling  is  likely  more  be¬ 
cause  the  colony,  being  frightened,  is  seeking  to  protect  the 
queen  than  because  of  any  hostility  to  her.  Fig.  30  shows  a 
queen  thus  balled,  or  rather  the  balling  bees  are  shown,  the 
queen  being  hidden  by  them.  The  ball  is  small,  whereas  a  ball 


72  FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 

of  bees  bent  on  the  destruction  of  a  strange  queen  is  likely  to  be 
as  large  as  a  hickory-nut,  or  larger. 

Whether  the  object  of  the  bees  be  to  protect  the  queen  or 
not,  anything  that  tends  to  excite  them  sufficiently  may  lead 
them  to  do  violence  to  the  queen.  So  when  I  find  the  queen  thus 
balled,  I  always  close  the  hive  immediately,  not  generally  touch¬ 
ing  it  again  till  the  next  day,  when  everything  will  be  found  all 
right. 


MAKING  RECORDS. 

After  the  overhauling  of  a  colony  is  completed,  a  record 
thereof  must  be  made.  If  May  10,  1902,  should  be  the  date  of 
the  visit,  and  if  I  should  clip  the  queen  at  that  visit,  I  would 
make  the  entry,  “May  10  cl  q  (01),”  which  means  that  I  clipped 
the  queen  May  10,  and  that  she  was  a  queen  reared  in  1901.  If, 
later  in  the  season,  I  should  clip  a  queen  reared  that  same 
season,  the  entry  would  be  “cl  q  (02),”  meaning  that  the  queen 
was  reared  in  1902.  In  either  case  the  year  of  the  birth  of  the 
old  queen  in  the  left-hand  margin  has  a  line  drawn  through  it, 
and  the  birth-year  of  the  new  queen  is  written  under  it.  If  I 
find  a  clipped  queen  in  the  hive,  then  the  entry  is,  “  q  cl,”  which 
means  the  queen  was  already  clipped.  It  might  not  seem 
important  to  enter  that  the  queen  was  already  clipped,  but  if  I 
do  not  find  her  the  first  or  second*  time  looking  over  the  combs 
I  leave  it  till  another  day,  leaving  a  blank  after  the  date,  and 
that  keeps  me  in  mind  of  the  fact  that  I  have  not  yet  seen  the 
queen. 

After  clipping  the  wing  of  the  queen  I  put  her  on  the  top 
of  a  frame  directly  over  the  brood-nest.  If  you  hold  her  on  your 
finger  over  the  brood-nest  she  displays  a  great  degree  of  per¬ 
verseness  and  persists  in  crawling  up  your  hand,  right  away 
from  her  proper  home.  So  I  let  her  crawl  upon  a  leaf,  little 
stick  or  other  object,  lay  this  on  the  frames,  and  she  will  direct¬ 
ly  go  down  into  the  cluster. 

Not  always,  however.  Too  often  she  will  run  about  over 
the  tops  of  the  frames,  and  even  over  the  side  of  the  hive,  and 
when  thus  excited  there  is  some  danger  she  may  be  balled  when 
she  gets  down  in  the  hive.  So  I  like  better  to  have  a  frame  of 
brood  covered  with  bees,  lying  flat,  or  held  flat  by  an  assistant, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


73 


and  then  1  drop  the  queen  right  among  the  bees  on  the  middle 
of  the  comb. 

On  this  first  visit  I  also  generally  enter  in  the  record-book 
the  amount  of  brood  present.  If  the  record  is  “2  br,”  or  “3  br,” 
it  means  that  two  combs  or  three  combs  are  fairly  well  filled 
with  brood — at  least  half  filled  with  brood.  If  the  record  is 
“  br  in  2/’  that  means  that  brood  is  found  in  two  combs,  but 
that  at  least  one  of  them  is  less  than  half  full.  So  you  will  see 
that  u  br  in  3  ”  might  be  a  good  deal  less  than  “  2  br,”  for  u  2 
br  ”  might  mean  two  very  full  combs,  and  at  the  least  will  be 
as  much  as  one  very  full  comb,  while  “  br  in  3  ”  may  mean  that 
there  is  only  a  little  spot  of  brood  in  each  of  three  combs. 

Any  other  item  that  needs  especial  mention  will  be  recorded, 
but  generally  there  is  no  record  made  beyond  those  mentioned. 

MENDING  COMBS. 

In  handling  the  combs,  if  any  are  found  with  drone-comb 
or  with  holes  in  them,  and  if  we  are  not  too  crowded  for  time, 
the  defects  are  remedied.  Very  likely  I  may  turn  over  these 
combs  to  my  assistant,  who  mends  them  before  they  are  returned 
to  the  hive.  The  usual  plan  is  to  mend  them  in  this  way : 

She  takes  a  common  tea-knife  with  a  thin,  narrow,  sharp 
blade,  cuts  out  the  piece  of  drone-comb  if  the  hole  is  not  already 
made,  lays  the  frame  over  a  piece  of  worker  comb  (this  piece 
of  worker-comb  may  be  the  part  or  whole  of  some  old  or  objec¬ 
tionable  comb),  with  the  point  of  the  knife  marks  out  the  exact 
size  and  shape  of  the  hole,  removes  the  frame,  cuts  out  the  piece 
and  crowds  it  into  the  hole. 

Or  the  following  plan  may  be  used,  especially  if  the  frame 
is  wired:  After  the  hole  is  made  (the  mice  have  probably  made 
the  holes  in  the  wired  frames),  the  cells  on  one  side  are  cut 
away  to  the  base  for  a  distance  of  %  to  ^  inch  from  the  hole, 
and  a  piece  of  foundation  cut  to  the  right  size  is  placed  over  the 
hole  and  the  edge  pressed  down  upon  the  base  that  surrounds 
the  hole.  The  foundation  must  not  be  too  cold.  Before  fall 
these  patches  cannot  be  detected,  unless  by  the  lighter  color 
where  the  foundation  has  been  used. 


74 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


HIVES  AND  FRAMES. 

Now  that  the  apiary  is  all  in  running  order,  you  may  want 
to  take  a  look  at  it.  You  “  don’t  think  it  looks  remarkably 
neat  ”  ?  Neither  do  I.  If  I  had  only  a  dozen  colonies  and  were 
keeping  them  for  the  pleasure  of  it,  I  should  have  their  hives 
painted,  perhaps  ornamented  with  scroll  work,  but  please  re¬ 
member  that  I  am  keeping  them  for  profit,  and  I  cannot  afford 
anything  for  looks.  I  suppose  they  would  last  longer  if  painted, 
but  hardly  enough  longer  to  pay  for  the  paint.  Besides,  in  the 


Fig.  25 — Home  from  the  Out-apiary. 


many  changes  constantly  taking  place,  how  do  I  know  that  1 
may  not  want  to  throw  these  aside  and  adopt  a  new  hive? 


CHANGES  IN  HIVES. 

I  have  already  changed  five  times,  having  begun  in  1861 
with  a  full-sized  sugar-barrel,  changing  the  next  year  to  Quinby 
box  hives,  then  to  a  movable-frame  hive  made  by  J.  F.  Lester, 
and  afterward  when  J.  Vandervort,  the  foundation-mill  man, 
came  and  lived  perhaps  a  year  in  Marengo,  I  bought  out  his 
stock  of  hives.  I  supposed  they  were  the  exact  Langstroth 
pattern,  but  they  had  frames  18  x  9  inches,  not  different  enough 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


75 


to  make  any  appreciable  difference  in  results,  but  different 
enough  so  that  they  were  not  standard,  and  after  I  had  a  few 
thousand  of  them  on  hand  and  wanted  to  change  to  the  regular 
Langstroth  size,  the  trouble  I  had  would  be  hard  to  describe. 
I  still  have  some  of  them,  but  not  in  regular  use.  These  hives 
were  10-frame,  and  in  course  of  time  I  cut  them  down  and  made 
them  8-frame.  Then  I  changed  to  the  8-frame  dovetailed  hive, 
and  I  don’t  know  what  the  next  change  will  be. 

Another  reason  for  not  painting  hives  is  that  I  am  afraid 
bees  do  not  do  quite  so  well  in  painted  as  in  unpainetd  hives, 
especially  in  winter. 

Except  the  full-sized  cleat  already  mentioned  on  each  end, 
my  hives  are  the  regular  dovetailed.  But  the  frames  are  Miller 
frames. 

LOOSE-HANGING  FRAMES. 

For  a  good  many  years  handling  frames  was  much  slower 
work  than  it  is  to-day,  because  for  a  good  many  years  I  had 
loose-hanging  frames.  In  moving  the  frames  from  one  side  of 
the  hive  toward  the  other,  each  frame  had  to  be  moved  separate¬ 
ly.  It  would  not  do  to  shove  two  or  more  at  a  time,  because  in 
so  doing  bees  would  be  mashed  between  the  frames.  Then  when 
the  frames  were  returned  to  place  each  one  had  to  be  carefully 
adjusted,  judging  by  the  eye  when  it  was  at  the  right  distance 
from  its  neighbor.  This  was  slow  work,  and  when  done  with  the 
utmost  care  it  was  only  approximately  exact.  There  was  no 
dummy  to  lift  out  to  make  extra  room;  and  the  frames  had  to  be 
crowded  together  so  as  to  make  room  to  get  a  first  frame  out. 
That  disarranged  the  spacing  of  several  of  the  frames,  even  if 
there  were  no  other  occasion  for  disarranging  them. 

SELF-SPACING  FRAMES. 

Then  there  came  a  time  of  struggling  for  some  self-spacing 
arrangement,  closed-end,  partly  closed-end,  and  what  not.  I 
tried  a  good  many  different  kinds.  Closed-ends  were  probably 
warmer  for  wintering,  and  were  certainly  self-spacing,  but  it 
took  time  to  avoid  killing  bees,  and  the  trouble  with  propolis 
was  no  small  matter.  Half-closed  ends  were  the  same  in  kind, 
only  different  in  degree. 


76 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Of  these  last  the  Hoffman  is  probably  the  most  popular, 
and  I  put  in  use  enough  to  fill  a  few  hives,  and  some  of  them  are 
still  in  use.  When  new  they  work  very  nicely,  but  as  propolis 
accumulates  the  difficulty  of  handling  increases,  and  the  frames 
become  more  and  more  crowded,  until  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
get  out  the  dummy,  the  easier  thing  being  to  pry  out  with  a 
good  deal  of  force  the  first  frame,  either  with  or  without  the 
dummy.  Indeed,  the  difficulty  of  getting  out  the  frames  is  so 
great  that  the  sight  of  a  set  of  Hoffman  frames  when  the  cover 
is  removed  always  produces  something  like  a  shudder. 

Although  I  could  not  have  ai^thing  in  the  line  of  closed- 
ends,  I  wanted  the  advantage  of  the  self-spacing,  and  not  find¬ 
ing  anything  on  the  market  to  suit  me  I  was,  in  a  manner, 
compelled  to  adopt  something  of  my  own  “  get-up,”  and  so  for 
several  years  I  have  used  with  much  satisfaction  the  Miller 
frame  (Fig.  95). 


MILLER  FRAME. 

The  frame  is  of  course  of  the  regular  Langstroth  size, 
17%  x  9%.  Top-bar,  bottom-bar,  and  end-bars  are  uniform  in 
width,  1%  inches  throughout  their  whole  dimensions.  The  top- 
bar  is  %  inch  thick,  with  the  usual  saw-kerf  to  receive  the 
foundation,  and  close  beside  this  is  another  kerf  to  receive  the 
wedge  that  fastens  in  the  foundation.  The  length  of  the  top- 
bar  is  18%  inches,  and  %  x  9-16  is  rabbeted  out  of  each  end 
to  receive  the  end-bar.  The  end-bar  is  8  9-16  x  1%  x  %.  The 
bottom-bar  consists  of  two  pieces,  each  17%  x  %  x  %.  This 
allows  %  inch  between  the  two  parts  to  receive  the  foundation, 
making  the  bottom-bar  1%  inches  wide  when  nailed. 

In  Fig.  95  the  frame  is  upside  down,  one-half  of  the  bot¬ 
tom-bar  nailed  on,  the  other  half  above,  while  below  is  seen 
(he  long  strip  that  serves  as  a  wedge  to  fasten  in  the  foundation. 

Some  of  my  latest  frames,  however,  have  the  bottom-bar  in 
one  piece,  1%  inches  wide,  and  Fm  not  sure  but  I  prefer  them. 
The  only  object  in  having  the  bottom-bar  in  two  pieces  is  the 
convenience  of  an  exact  fit  of  the  foundation  without  the  trouble 
of  cutting  it  carefully  to  the  right  size.  With  the  bottom-bar 
all  in  one  piece,  the  foundation  fitting  down  close  upon  it,  and 
melted  wax  run  along  the  joint,  the  bees  may  be  less  inclined  to 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


77 


gnaw  a  passage  under  the  foundation  than  with  the  double 
bottom-bar  without  the  melted  wax. 

SPACING-NAILS. 

The  side-spacing,  which  holds  the  frame  at  the  proper 
distance  from  its  next  neighbor,  is  accomplished  by  means  of 
common  wire  nails.  These  nails  are  l1/^  inches  long  and  rather 
heavy,  about  3-32  inch  in  thickness,  with  a  head  less  than  one- 
fourth  inch  across.  By  means  of  a  wooden  gauge  which  allows 
them  to  be  driven  only  to  a  fixed  depth,  they  are  driven  in  to 
such  a  depth  that  the  head  remains  projecting  out  a  fourth  of 
an  inch. 

Each  frame  has  four  spacing-nails.  A  nail  is  driven  into 
each  end  of  the  top-bar  on  opposite  sides,  the  nail  being  about 
an  inch  and  a  half  from  the  extreme  end  of  the  top-bar,  and  a- 
fourth  of  an  inch  from  its  upper  surface.  About  two  and  a 
fourth  inches  from  the  bottom  of  the  frame  a  nail  is  driven  into 
each  end-bar,  these  nails  being  also  on  opposite  sides.  Hold  the 
frame  up  before  you  in  its  natural  position,  each  hand  holding 
one  end  of  the  top-bar,  and  the  two  nails  at  the  right  end  will 
be  on  the  side  from  you,  while  the  two  nails  at  the  left  end  will 
be  on  the  side  nearest  to  you. 

The  object  of  having  the  nails  so  heavy  is  so  that  they  may 
not  be  driven  further  into  the  wood  when  the  frames  are  crowd¬ 
ed  hard  together.  Once  in  a  great  while  the  wood  is  split  by 
having  so  heavy  a  nail  driven,  and  if  such  a  nail  could  be 
obtained  it  would  be  better  to  have  a  lighter  nail  with  a  head  a 
fourth  of  an  inch  thick,  so  that  it  could  be  driven  automatically 
to  place  without  the  need  of  a  gauge,  and  without  the  possibil¬ 
ity  of  being  driven  further  in  by  any  amount  of  crowding. 

I  have  never  tried  the  metal  spacers  now  used  on  what  are 
still  called  Holfman  frames,  but  it  seems  to  me  they  must  be  an 
immense  improvement  over  the  original  Hoffman  frames,  such 
as  I  had.  I  think,  however,  I  should  still  prefer  such  a  nail  as 
1  have  mentioned,  because  there  is  less  opposing  surface,  and  so 
less  chance  for  propolis.  Such  nails  are  in  use  in  Europe. 

Objection  has  been  made  to  metal  spacers  because  they  are 
in  the  way  of  the  uncapping-knife.  But  why  should  I,  who  do 
not  use  an  uncapping-knife,  be  denied  the  frame  that  is  best  for 


78 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


my  use,  because,  forsooth,  it  doesn’t  suit  an  uncapper  ?  Yet  I 
must  say  I  am  very  skeptical  as  to  the  objections  to  metol 
spacers  on  even  extracting  frames.  The  spacers  are  only  at  one 
end  of  the  frame  at  each  side,  and  if  the  knife  starts  at  the 
spacer-end  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to  dull  it  on  the  spacers. 
I  have  tried  it  enough  to  form  something  of  an  opinion,  and  1 
have  been  told  by  those  who  ought  to  know  that  the  objection 
is  a  thing  largely  of  imagination. 


Fig.  26 — Pounding  Bees  Off  Comb. 


END-SPACING. 

The  end-spacing  is  done  by  means  of  the  usual  frame 
staple,  about  three-eighths  of  an  inch  wide.  The  staple  is  driven 
into  the  end-bar,  immediately  under  the  lug  of  the  top-bar. 
This  lug  being  only  half  an  inch  long,  there  is  room  for  a  bee 
to  pass  between  the  end  of  the  lug  and  the  upper  edge  of  the 
hive-end,  so  no  propolis  is  deposited  there.  I  like  this  feature 
as  much  as  some  dislike  it.  They  complain  that  with  so  short  a 

top-bar  the  frames  drop  down  in  the  hive — a  nuisance  not  to  be 

♦ 

tolerated.  I  do  not  have  that  trouble,  although  the  hold  of  the 
top-bar  on  the  tin  support  is  so  slight  that  if  the  work  were 
not  exact  I  can  easily  imagine  the  frames  dropping  down. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


79 


Possibly  those  who  complain  do  not  have  very  exact  work.  I 
am  not  sure  but  I  would  put  up  with  a  little  dropping  down  of 
frames,  rather  than  to  have  the  ends  of  the  top-bars  glued. 

It  will  be  seen  that  while  the  frames  are  automatically 
spaced  very  firmly,  the  points  of  contact  are  so  small  that  the 
frames  are  always  easily  movable.  Those  points  of  contact  are 
the  thin  metal  edges  upon  which  the  top-bars  rest,  the  two  end- 
staples,  and  the  four  nail-heads.  The  same  spacing  is  in  use  in 
other  frames,  only  staples  are  used  for  side-spacing  instead  of 
nails.  The  staples  do  not  seem  quite  so  substantial,  and  there 
is  more  danger,  when  the  frames  are  crowded  hard  together, 
that  the  staples  may  be  driven  in  deeper,  or  that  the  head  of  the 
staple  may  dig  into  the  adjoining  wood. 

The  top-bar  and  end-bar  being  1%  wide,  and  the  spacing 
of  the  nails  ^4  inch,  the  frames  are  spaced  just  1%  from  center 
to  center.  It  is  just  possible  that  a  little  wider  spacing  than 
1%  might  be  better,  but  1%  is  the  general  fashion,  and  so  far 
as  possible  I  like  to  adopt  standard  goods.  I  may  be  asked, 
then,  why  I  should  use  a  frame  not  regularly  made  by  manufac¬ 
turers.  Possibly  prejudice  has  a  little  to  do  in  the  case,  but  I 
think  the  Miller  frame  enough  better  than  anything  I  can  find 
listed,  that  I  prefer  to  be  out  of  fashion  so  long  as  I  can  find 
nothing  listed  that  is  quite  close  to  what  I  want. 

USING  STANDARD  GOODS. 

In  general  I  think  it  is  best  to  adopt  standard  goods.  They 
can  be  more  cheaply  made,  and  it  is  more  convenient  to  get 
them.  It  cost  me  no  small  sum  to  change  my  frames  so  little 
as  to  make  them  only  %  of  an  inch  less  in  length  and  an  eighth 
of  an  inch  more  in  depth,  but  I  made  the  change,  and  made  it 
solely  because  my  frames  were  not  of  standard  size.  Years  ago 
I  changed  from  four-piece  to  one-piece  sections  solely  because  I 
wanted  to  be  in  fashion,  although  I  think  I  prefer  the  one-piece 
now. 


WORKING  FOR  IMPROVEMENT. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  one’s  privilege — perhaps  one’s  duty 
- — to  make  some  effort  toward  improvement,  if  one  can  only 


80 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


keep  from  thinking  that  a  thing  is  necessarily  an  improvement 
because  it  is  different  from  what  has  been.  The  things  and 
plans  gotten  up  by  me  that  were  different  from  others  would 
make  a  pretty  long  list.  Unfortunately,  a  full  trial  has  in  most 
cases  convinced  me  that  my  supposed  improvements  were  no 
improvements  at  all,  and  so  they  were  cast  aside.  A  few,  how¬ 
ever,  have  stood  the  test;  the  Miller  feeder  and  the  Miller 
introducing  cage  having  become  standard  articles  on  the  price¬ 
lists,  while  bottom-starters,  the  robber-cloth,  bottom-board,  and 


Fig.  27 — Weed  Brushes 


some  other  things  have  had  from  my  brother  beekeepers  a 
reception  of  which  I  have  no  reason  to  complain.  While  the 
tendency  toward  something  different  needs  to  be  kept  in  bounds 
it  would  be  a  sad  thing  if  no  changes  had  been  made,  and  we 
were  set  back  just  where  we  were  a  quarter  or  half  a  century 
ago. 

GETTING  COMBS  BUILT  DOWN  TO  BOTTOM-BARS. 

While  upon  the  subject  of  frames,  I  may  as  well  tell  how 
I  manage  to  have  them  entiL'ely  filled  with  straight  combs  which 
are  built  out  to  the  end-bars  and  clear  down  to  the  bottom-bars, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


81 


a  thing’  I  experimented  upon  for  a  long  time  before  reaching 
success.  The  foundation  is  cut  so  as  to  make  a  close  fit  in 
length,  and  the  width  is  about  half  an  inch  more  than  the  inside 
depth  of  the  frame.  The  frame  is  all  complete  except  that  one 
of  the  two  pieces  of  the  bottom-bar  is  not  yet  nailed  on.  The 
frame  is  laid  on  a  board  of  the  usual  kind,  which  fits  inside  the 
frame  and  has  stops  on  the  edges  so  that  when  foundation  is 
laid  on  the  board  it  will  lie  centrally  in  the  frame.  The  half  of 
the  bottom-bar  that  is  nailed  on  lies  on  the  under  side.  The 
foundation  is  put  in  place,  and  one  edge  is  crowded  into  the 
saw-kerf  in  the  top-bar.  Then  the  lacking  half  of  the  bottom- 
bar  is  put  in  place,  and  a  light  nail  at  the  middle  is  driven  down 
through  both  parts.  Then  the  frame  is  raised  and  the  ends  of 
the  two  halves  of  the  bottom-bar  are  squeezed  together  so  as  to 
pinch  the  foundation,  and  nailed  there.  Then  the  usual  wTedge 
is  wedged  into  the  fine  saw-kerf  in  the  top-bar. 

As  already  said,  I  am  not  sure  but  it  is  just  as  well,  or 
better,  to  have  the  bottom-bar  in  one  piece,  with  the  foundation 
cut  to  fit  close  upon  it. 

FOUNDATION  SPLINTS. 

Now  we  are  ready  for  the  important  part.  Little  sticks  or 
splints  about  1-16  of  an  inch  square,  and  about  %  inch  shorter 
than  the  inside  depth  of  the  frame,  are  thrown  into  a  square 
shallow  tin  pan  that  contains  hot  beeswax.  They  will  froth  up 
because  of  the  moisture  frying  out  of  them.  When  the  frothing 
ceases,  and  the  splints  are  saturated  with  wax,  then  they  are 
ready  for  use.  The  frame  of  foundation  is  laid  on  the  board 
as  before;  with  a  pair  of  plyers  a  splint  is  lifted  out  of  the 
wax  (kept  just  hot  enough  over  a  gasoline-stove),  and  placed 
upon  the  foundation  so  that  the  splint  shall  be  perpendicular 
when  the  frame  is  hung  in  the  hive.  As  fast  as  a  splint  is  laid 
in  place,  an  assistant  immediately  presses  it  down  into  the 
foundation  with  the  wetted  edge  of  a  board.  About  l1/^  inches 
from  each  end-bar  is  placed  a  splint,  and  between  these  two 
splints  three  others  at  equal  distances  (Fig.  31).  When  these 
are  built  out  they  make  beautiful  combs,  and  the  splints  do  not 
seem  to  be  at  all  in  the  way  (Fig.  32). 


82 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Five  splints  in  a  frame  works  all  right  for  medium  brood 
foundation,  but  in  1909  I  filled  a  number  of  frames  with  light 
brood  foundation,  and  used  seven  splints  in  a  frame. 

A  little  experience  will  enable  one  to  judge,  when  putting 
in  the  splints,  how  hot  to  keep  the  wax.  If  too  hot  there  will 
be  too  light  a  coating  of  wax. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  the  mere  use  of  these  splints 
will  under  any  and  all  circumstances  result  in  faultless  combs 
built  securely  down  to  the  bottom-bar.  It  seems  to  be  the 


Fig.  28—Coggshall  Bee-brush. 

natural  thing  for  bees  to  leave  a  free  passage  under  the  comb, 
no  matter  whether  the  thing  that  comes  next  below  the  comb  be 
the  floor-board  of  the  hive  or  the  bottom-bar  of  the  frame.  So 
if  a  frame  be  given  when  little  storing  is  going  on,  the  bees  will 
deliberately  dig  away  the  foundation  at  the  bottom;  and  even 
if  it  has  been  built  down  but  the  cells  not  very  fully  drawn  out, 
they  will  do  more  or  less  at  gnawing  a  passage.  To  make  a 
success,  the  frames  should  be  given  at  a  time  when  work  shall 
go  on  uninterruptedly  until  full-depth  cells  reach  the  bottom- 
bar. 

In  Fig.  32  will  be  seen  two  such  frames  of  splinted  founda- 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


83 


tion  that  have  been  built  out  and  filled  with  honey.  The  upper 
one  is  built  out  solid  to  the  frame  all  around,  while  the  lower 
one  has  a  hole  at  one  of  the  lower  corners,  through  which  a 
queen  can  play  hide-and-seek.  ' 

In  Fig.  33  are  two  that  have  been  built  out  and  filled  with 
brood.  They  are  built  out  solid  to  the  wood,  excepting;  one 
hole  in  each  at  one  of  the  lower  corners,  but  these  two  holes  are 
covered  up  by  the  fingers  so  that  you  cannot  see  them.  Look 
carefully  at  the  frame  at  the  left  hand,  and  you  will  see  at  least 
three  places  where  the  capping  is  slightly  elevated,  because  of 
the  splints  beneath. 

BROOD  TO  THE  TOP-BAR, 

Incidentally  your  attention  may  be  called  to  this  comb  as  a 
fine  specimen  of  one  well  filled  with  brood.  It  is  literally  filled , 
all  the  cells,  sealed  and  unsealed,  containing  brood.  It  shows 
that  there  is  no  necessity  for  shallow  frames  to  have  brood  clear 
to  the  top-bar.  At  the  time  when  it  is  desired  to  get  bees  to 
start  work  in  sections,  the  brood  will  be  up  so  high  in  the  combs 
that  bees  will  start  in  the  sections  just  as  promptly  with  stand¬ 
ard  frames  as  with  those  that  are  shallower.  After  the  bees  have 
been  at  work  storing  for  some  time,  the  brood  in  the  standard 
frame  will  not  be  as  near  the  top-bar  as  in  a  shallow  frame, 
but  that  will  be  no  hindrance  to  the  continuance  of  storing  in 
supers. 

For  a  long  time  it  puzzled  me  to  understand  why  others 
should  say  that  in  a  Langstroth  frame  a  space  of  one  or  two 
inches  would  be  left  under  the  top-bar  where  no  brood  would 
be  reared,  while  in  my  hives,  in  the  height  of  brood-rearing, 
frame  after  frame  would  be  filled  with  brood  clear  to  the  top- 
bar.  It  was  urged  that  the  trouble  arose  because  the  frame  was 
too  deep.  Finally  it  was  suggested  that  horizontal  wiring 
allowed  enough  sagging  so  that  the  upper  cells  were  stretched 
just  enough  so  they  would  not  be  used  for  brood.  In  my  frames, 
with  foundation-splints,  there  was  no  chance  for  stretching, 
and  so  the  row  of  cells  next  to  the  top-bar  and  bottom-bar  could 
alike  be  used  by  the  queen. 

Even  if  brood  were  not  reared  in  the  upper  part  of  a  Lang¬ 
stroth  frame,  I  should  still  prefer  that  depth  for  comb  honey, 


84 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


whatever  might  be  true  as  to  extracted  honey.  At  one  time  I 
had  two  hives  with  shallow  frames,  and  the  amount  of  pollen 
in  sections  filled  over  those  shallow  frames  was  greater  than  in 
all  the  other  thousands  of  sections  filled  over  the  Langstroth 
frames. 

Please  do  not  misunderstand  that  all  my  combs  look  like  the 
four  in  Figs.  32  and  33.  Many  of  them  do,  but  more  do  not, 
because  so  many  of  them  were  built  in  seasons  of  comparative 
dearth. 

There  is  another  way  to  get  combs  built  down  to  the  bottom- 
bar.  Suppose  you  have  a  comb  with  a  passageway  under  it 
more  or  less  of  its  length.  Cut  it  free  from  the  bottom-bar,  and 
then  cut  straight  across  an  inch  or  more  above  the  bottom-bar; 
then  turn  this  piece  upside  down  and  let  it  rest  on  the  bottom- 
bar.  The  bees  will  immediately  fasten  this  piece  to  the  bottom- 
bar  (of  course  it  must  be  at  a  time  when  bees  are  working 
freely),  and  very  soon  they  will  fill  in  the  gap  above  the  piece. 

HIVE-DUMMY. 

A  good  dummy  is  a  matter  of  no  light  importance.  It  is 
handy  to  fill  up  vacant  space,  its  chief  use  being  to  make  an 
easy  thing  of  removing  the  first  comb  from  a  hive.  With  self¬ 
spacing  frames  there  can  be  no  crowding  together  of  the  frames 
so  as  to  give  one  of  them  extra  room,  as  is  the  case  with  loose¬ 
hanging  frames,  and  if  a  hive  be  filled  full  of  self-spacing 
frames  it  will  be  about  impossible  to  remove  the  first  frame 
after  a  fair  amount  of  propolis  is  present.  A  dummy  at  one 
side  is  the  thing  to  help  out. 

An  eight-frame  dovetailed  hive  is  12^8  inches  wide  inside. 
Eight  frames  spaced  1%  inches  from  center  to  center  will  occupy 
11  inches,  leaving  at  one  side  a  space  of  1%  inches,  abundance 
of  room  to  lift  out  the  first  frame  easily.  A  dummy  put  into 
that  space  will  keep  the  bees  from  filling  it  up  with  comb,  and 
it  ought  never  to  be  difficult  to  lift  out  the  dummy.  If  a  dummy 
a  trifle  more  than  a  fourth  of  an  inch  thick  be  put  in,  leaving 
a  fourth  of  an  inch  between  dummy  and  frame,  there  will  be 
left  between  the  dummy  and  the  side  of  the  hive  a  space  of  a 
little  more  than  half  an  inch,  a  space  that  the  bees  will  never 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


85 


fill  with  comb  in  such  a  place.  As  propolis  accumulates,  how¬ 
ever,  this  space  will  become  less. 

The  dummy  should  be  light  and  at  the  same  time  quite 
substantial,  and  the  one  I  use  fulfills  these  requirements  (Fig. 
42).  The  principal  board  of  the  dummy  is  16%  x  8%  x  5-16, 
of  pine.  The  other  parts  are  of  some  tougher  wood.  The  top- 
bar  is  18%  x  5-16  x  5-16.  Each  end-cleat  is  8%  x  %  x  5-16. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  dummy  is  neither  so  long  nor  deep 
as  a  frame.  That  makes  it  easier  to  handle,  and  being  at  the 
side  of  the  hive  it  never  makes  any  trouble.  If  I  were  making 


Fig.  29 — Tool-basket. 

\ 

new  dummies,  I  think  I  would  make  the  principal  board  15 
inches  long  instead  of  16%.  It  would  be  easier  to  handle,  and 
bees  are  little  inclined  to  fill  in  comb  at  the  ends  of  the  dummy. 
While  the  cut-off  top-bars  in  the  frames  work  nicely,  they  do 
not  work  so  well  in  dummies,  as  I  found  upon  trying  a  number 
of  them.  The  principal  objection  to  this  dummy  is  that  the 
top-bar,  being  only  5-16  square,  is  sometimes  broken  off,  or 
pulled  off,  when  the  dummy  is  pried  out  of  a  hive  where  it  is 
glued  in.  Some  of  them  are  made  over  in  a  simple  way  that  is 
very  satisfactory.  The  top-bar  is  entirely  torn  off,  and  for  a 


86 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


lug  at  each  end  is  used  a  common  tenpenny  wire  nail,  which  is 
3  inches  long  and  Yg  inch  thick.  Lay  the  nail  on  top  of  the 
dummy,  with  the  point  projecting  as  far  as  it  can  and  yet  admit 
the  dummy  into  the  hive.  The  head  of  the  nail  will  not  allow 
it  to  lie  down  flat.  All  the  better.  Hammer  on  the  head  till 
the  nail  does  lie  flat.  Now  take  a  piece  of  tin  3%  to  4  inches 
long  and  wide  enough  to  cover  the  part  of  the  nail  that  lies  on 
the  dummy,  not  including  the  head.  Lay  this  tin  on  top,  bend 
down  over  each  side,  and  near  the  lower  end  drive  through  two 
light  wire  nails  an  inch  long  or  longer,  and  clinch.  There’s  a 
feeling  of  solid  comfort  every  time  one  opens  a  hive  containing 
such  a  dummy. 

HIVE-COVERS. 

At  the  risk  of  losing  caste  as  a  beekeeper,  I  am  obliged  to 
confess  that  I  never  got  up  “  a  hive  of  my  own,”  never  even 
tried  to  plan  one,  but  I  have  tried  no  little  to  get  up  a  hive-cover 
to  suit  me.  VA  hive  is  so  seldom  moved  that  I  care  less  for  its 
weight,  but  when  I,  or,  more  particularly,  my  female  assistants, 
have  to  lift  covers  all  day  long,  when  hot  and  tired,  a  pound 
difference  in  weight  is  quite  an  item.  The  first  covers  I  had  for 
movable-frame  hives  were  8  inches  deep  and  weighed  about  18 
pounds.  Needless  to  detail  the  different  covers  I  have  devised 
and  tried,  with  upper  surface  of  tin,  oilcloth,  and  wood,  painted 
and  unpainted.  Although  I  don’t  paint  hive-bodies,  I  want 
covers  painted  or  at  least  waterproof.  Some  of  my  covers  have 
been  the  common  plain  board  cover,  and  I  don’t  like  them. 
Some  of  them  are  of  two  boards  united  at  the  middle  by  a  V- 
shaped  tin  slid  into  saw-kerfs,  and  I  like  these  still  less.  A  new 
board  cover  is  a  nice  thing.  After  a  little  it  warps,  and  then  it 
is  not  a  nice  thing.  Put  a  cleat  on  each  end  so  it  can  not  warp 
— cast-iron  cleats,  if  you  like — and  it  will  twist  so  that  there 
will  be  a  grinning  opening  at  one  corner  to  allow  bees  to  walk 
out  and  cold  to  walk  in,  to  say  nothing  of  robber-bees. 

TIN  COVERS  WITH  DEAD-AIR  SPACE. 

I  have  fifty  covers  that  I  like  very  much.  They  are  double¬ 
board  covers,  the  boards  being  %  thick,  the  grain  of  the  upper 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


87 


and  lower  boards  running  in  opposite  directions,  with  a  % 
dead-air  space  between  them;  at  least  it  would  be  dead-air  if  it 
were  not  for  cracks,  and  I  do  not  consider  the  cracks  a  necessary 
part  if  the  covers  were  properly  made.  The  whole  is  covered 
with  tin  and  painted  white.  The  lower  surface  is  perfectly  flat, 
with  no  cleat  projecting  downward,  for  such  cleats  do  not  help 


Fig.  30 — Balled  Queen. 

rapid  and  easy  handling.  Such  a  cover  is  light,  safe  from  warp¬ 
ing  and  twisting,  is  cooler  in  summer  than  the  plain  board 
cover,  and  warmer  in  winter.  The  greatest  objection  is  the  cost ; 
I  think  they  cost  25  cents  or  more  each. 

Two  of  these  tin  covers  will  be  seen  at  Fig.  37,  the  one  at 
the  right  showing  the  under  surface  of  the  cover. 


88 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ZINC  COVERS. 

Fifty  other  covers  are  made  on  the  same  plan  and  covered 
with  zinc.  These  are  not  painted.  So  long  as  they  remain 
whole  there  is  no  need  of  paint,  and  whenever  there  seems  to 
be  a  possibility  of  their  approaching  anything  like  a  leaking 
condition  they  can  be  covered  with  paint.  The  same  might  be 
•  said  of  the  tin,  only  I  expect  the  zinc  to  stand  the  weather 
nnpainted  much  longer  than  the  tin  would. 

At  Fig.  38  may  be  seen  two  of  these  zinc  hive-covers.  The 
one  at  the  right  shows  the  upper  or  zinc  surface.  The  left  one 
shows  the  under  or  wood  surface;  and  if  you  look  at  the  right 
end  of  this  last  cover  you  will  see  that  the  upper  layer  of  thin 
board  projects  three-fourths  of  an  inch  so  as  to  serve  as  a 
handle.  One  of  these  covers  weighs  five  pounds. 

A  cover  sent  me  by  the  A.  I.  Root  Co.  covered  with  paper 
and  painted,  has  been  in  use  several  years,  and  so  far  it  seems 
to  stand  as  well  as  zinc  or  tin.  Possibly  this  paper  may  do  as 
well  as  the  metal  and  save  expense.  I  would  rather  pay  a  good 
price  for  a  good  cover,  rain-proof,  bee-proof,  non-warping, 
non-twisting,  with  a  dead-air  space,  than  to  take  a  poor  cover 
as  a  gift. 

The  hundred  covers  I  have  mentioned  were  made  specially 
to  order,  but  1  am  glad  to  see  that  I  he  A.  I.  Root  Co.  have  now 
on  their  list  a  cover  made  on  the  same  principle. 


HIVE-STANDS. 


My  hive-stands  are  simple  and  inexpensive  (Fig.  39). 
They  are  made  of  common  fence-boards  6  inches  wide.  Two 
pieces  32  inches  long  are  nailed  upon  two  other  pieces  or  cleats 
24  inches  long.  That’s  all.  Of  course  the  longer  pieces  are 
uppermost,  leaving  the  cleats  below.  Two  similar  cleats,  but 
loose,  lie  on  the  ground  under  the  first-mentioned  cleats.  This 
makes  it  equivalent  to  cleats  of  two-inch  stuff,  with  the  decided 
advantage  that  only  the  loose  cleat  will  rot  away  by  lying  on 
the  ground,  without  spoiling  the  whole  stand.  These  stands  are 
leveled  with  a  spirit-level  before  the  hives  are  placed  on  them 
(sometimes  not  till  afterward),  being  made  perfectly  level  from 
side  to  side,  with  the  rear  one  or  two  inches  higher  than  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


89 


front.  Each  of  these  stands  is  intended  for  two  hives,  with  a 
space  of  2  to  4  inches  between  the  two  hives.  It  is  much  easier 
to  level  a  stand  like  this  than  to  level  one  for  a  single  hive. 
There  are  other  advantages. 

For  years  I  was  well  satisfied  with  these  stands,  but  longer 
experience  has  made  me  become  greatly  dissatisfied  with  them. 
More  than  a  square  foot  of  the  under  surface  of  the  bottom- 
board  lies  fiat  upon  the  boards  of  the  stand.  When  it  rains  the 
water  soaks  in  between  these  two  surfaces,  and  favors  rotting. 
Worse  still,  it  makes  the  nicest  kind  of  a  place  for  the  large 
wood-ants  to  make  a  nest  and  honeycomb  the  wood  of  the 
bottom-board.  Perhaps  the  coming  stand  is  of  cement  with  but 
a  small  surface  in  actual  contact  with  the  bottom-board. 

HIVES  IN  PAIRS. 

This  putting  in  pairs  is  quite  a  saving  of  room;  for  if 
room  were  allowed  for  working  on  each  side  of  each  hive,  only 
two-thirds  the  number  could  be  got  into  the  row.  But  so  far 
as  the  bees  are  concerned,  it  is  equivalent  to  putting  in  double 
the  number;  that  is,  there  is  no  more  danger  of  a  bee  going  into 
the  wrong  hive  by  mistake,  than  if  only  a  single  hive  stood 
where  each  pair  stands.  If  hives  stood  very  close  together  at 
regular  intervals,  a  bee  might  by  mistake  go  into  the  wrong- 
hive,  but  if  a  colony  of  bees  is  in  the  habit,  as  mine  sometimes 
are  in  the  spring,  of  going  into  the  south  end  of  their  entrance, 
they  will  never  make  the  mistake  of  entering  at  the  north  end, 
as  you  will  quickly  see  if  you  plug  up,  alternately,  the  north 
and  south  ends  of  the  entrance.  When  the  north  end  is  closed 
it  does  not  aft'ect  the  bees  at  all,  but  close  the  south  end,  and 
dire  consternation  follows.  To  the  bees  the  pair  of  hives  is 
much  the  same  as  a  single  hive,  and  they  will  not  make  the 
mistake  of  entering  the  wrong  end. 

A  space  of  2  feet  or  so  is  left  between  one  pair  of  hives 
and  the  next  pair,  so  as  to  leave  plenty  of  room  for  a  seat. 

GROUPS  OF  FOUR  HIVES. 

In  two  of  the  apiaries  there  is  still  further  economy  of 
room  by  placing  a  second  row  close  to  the  first,  the  hives  stand- 


90 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ing  back  to  back.  That,  you  will  see,  makes  the  hives  in  groups 
of  four.  I  do  not  know  of  any  arrangement  that  will  allow  a 
lfrger  number  of  hives  to  stand  on  a  given  surface.  The  dif¬ 
ference  in  the  amount  of  travel  in  the  course  of  a  year  in  such 
an  arrangement  as  compared  with  one  without  any  grouping, 
is  a  matter  not  to  be  despised. 

SHADE. 

Trees  shade  most  of  the  hives  at  least  a  part  of  the  day, 
and  at  one  end  of  the  home  apiary  the  trees  were  so  thick  that 


Fig.  31 — F oundation  with  splint  supports. 


I  cut  out  part  of  them.  I  had  previously  thought  that  shade 
was  important,  and  that  with  sufficient  shade  there  was  never 
any  danger  of  bees  suffering  from  heat,  but  after  having  combs 
melt  down  in  a  hive  so  densely  shaded  by  trees  that  the  sun  did 
not  shine  on  it  all  day  long,  I  changed  my  mind.  I  value  the 
shade  these  trees  give,  not  so  much  for  the  good  it  does  the  bees, 
but  for  the  comfort  of  the  operator  working  at  them.  I  don’t 
believe  bees  suffer  as  much  from  the  hot  sun  shining  directly  on 
the  hives  as  they  do  from  having  the  air  shut  off  from  them  by 
surrounding  objects.  I  have  had  combs  melt  down  in  hives,  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


91 


honey  running  in  a  stream  on  the  ground,  one  of  the  hives  at 
least  being  in  a  shade  of  trees  so  dense  the  sun  never  shone  on 
it,  and  I  suspect  it  was  for  lack  of  air.  A  dense  growth  of  corn 
was  directly  back  of  the  hives  and  a  dense  growth  of  young 
trees  and  underbrush  in  front.  I  didn’t  know  enough  to  notice 
this,  although  when  working  at  the  bees  my  shirt  would  be  as 
wet  as  if  dipped  in  the  river.  I  had  the  young  trees  thinned 
out  and  trimmed  up,  the  corn-ground  in  grass,  so  the  air  could 
get  through,  and  I  now  work  with  more  comfort,  and  no  comb 
has  melted  down  for  30  years. 

Sometimes  I  have  found  it  desirable  to  shade  one  or  more 
hives  singly.  An  armful  of  the  longest  fresh-cut  grass  obtain¬ 
able  is  laid  on  the  hive-cover,  and  weighted  down  with  two  or 
three  sticks  of  stove-wood.  But  I  do  not  think  anything  of  the 
kind  is  needed  on  double  covers. 

MOVABLE  SHADE. 

For  hives  that  are  not  in  the  shade,  especially  during 
certain  parts  of  the  day,  a  movable  shade  (Fig.  58)  is  a  great 
comfort  to  the  operator  when  the  sun  shines  with  blistering 
heat.  Four  standards  are  made  of  7-16-inch  rod  iron.  Take  a 
piece  of  the  iron  6  feet  2  inches  long;  bend  the  upper  end  into 
a  ring  or  eye,  and  sharpen  the  lower  end.  Twelve  inches  from 
the  point  or  lower  end  bend  the  rod  at  right  angles.  Two  inches 
higher  up  bend  again  at  right  angles,  leaving  the  rod  straight 
except  that  knee  of  two  inches,  upon  which  you  can  set  your 
foot  and  drive  it  in  the  ground  as  when  spading. 

The  cloth  used  for  the  shade  is  about  as  large  as  an  ordinary 
bed-sheet,  and  is  usually  the  linen  lap-robe,  which  is  always  at 
hand,  and  on  which  a  string  is  kept  tied  on  each  corner  so  as  to 
be  always  ready  to  set  up  in  a  twinkling.  This  string  has  both 
ends  tied  around  the  cloth  at  the  corner,  leaving  the  string  in 
the  form  of  a  loop.  The  loop  is  thrust  through  the  eye  of  the 
standard,  looped  back  over  the  eye,  and  there  you  are. 

When  the  sun  is  not  far  from  the  horizon,  only  two  stand¬ 
ards  are  used,  from  which  the  lap-robe  hangs  as  a  wall  between 
the  operator  and  the  sun. 


92 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


FEEDING  MEAL. 

I  used  to  read  about  feeding  meal  in  the  spring.  I  tried 
it,  put  out  rye-meal,  and  not  a  bee  would  touch  it;  baited  them 
with  honey,  and  if  they  took  the  honey  they  left  the  meal. 
Finally,  one  day,  I  saw  a  bee  alight  on  a  dish  of  flour  set  in  a 
sunny  place.  It  went  at  it  in  a  rollicking  manner  as  if  delight¬ 
ed.  I  was  more  delighted.  At  last  I  had  in  some  way  got  the 
thing  right,  and  my  bees  would  take  meal.  The  bee  loaded  up, 
and  lugged  oft  its  load,  and  I  waited  for  it  and  others  to  come 
for  more.  They  didn’t  come,  and  that  was  the  first  and  last 
load  taken  that  year.  I  cannot  tell  now  exactly  when  the  change 
came  about,  neither  do  I  know  that  I  have  done  anything 
different,  but  I  have  no  trouble  now  in  getting  the  bees  to  take 
bushels  of  meal.  I  suppose  the  simple  explantion  is  that  there 
was  plenty  of  natural  pollen  for  the  few  bees  I  had  in  the  first 
years,  but  not  enough  for  the  larger  number  of  colonies  I  had 
later. 

About  as  soon  as  the  bees  are  set  out  in  the  spring,  I  begin 
feeding  them  meal,  although  some  years  I  do  not  offer  any 
substitute  for  jjollen.  For  this  purpose  I  like  shallow  boxes, 
and  generally  use  old  hive-covers  4  inches  deep.  These  are 
placed  in  a  sunny  place  about  a  foot  apart,  one  end  raised  three 
or  four  inches  higher  than  the  other.  This  may  be  done  by 
putting  a  stone  under  one  end,  although  1  generally  place  them 
along  the  edge  of  a  little  ditch  where  no  stone  is  needed,  and 
they  can  be  whirled  around  as  if  on  a  central  pivot.  One  feed- 
box  is  used  for  every  10  to  20  colonies,  although  I  am  guided 
rather  by  what  the  bees  seem  to  need,  adding  more  boxes  as  fast 
as  the  ones  already  given  are  crowded  with  bees. 

SUBSTITUTES  FOR  POLLEN. 

I  can  hardly  tell  what  I  have  not  used  for  meal.  I  have 
used  meal  or  flour  of  pretty  much  all  the  grains,  bran,  shorts, 
and  all  the  different  feeds  used  for  cows  in  this  noted  dairy 
region,  including  even  the  yellow  meal  brought  from  glucose 
factories  for  cow-feed,  although,  if  this  last  were  known,  it 
might  be  reported  that  I  filled  paraffin  combs  with  glucose  and 
scaled  them  over  with  a  hot  butcher-knife.  I  think  this  glucose 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


93 


meal  is  perhaps  the  poorest  feed  I  have  used.  As  to  the  rest  I 
hardly  know  which  is  best,  and  I  have  of  late  used  principally 
corn  and  oats  ground  together,  partly  because  I  was  using  that 
for  horse  and  cow  feed,  and  partly  because  I  think  it  may  be 
as  good  as  any. 

When  the  feed-boxes  are  put  in  place,  in  the  morning  (and 
I  commence  this  feeding  just  as  soon  as  the  bees  are  out  of  the 
cellar),  I  put  in  each  box  at  the  raised  end  about  four  to  six 
quarts  (the  quantity  is  not  very  material)  of  the  feed.  The 
more  compact,  and  the  less  scattered  the  feed  the  better.  The 
bees  will  gradually  dig  it  down  till  it  is  all  settled  in  the  lower 
end  of  the  box,  just  the  same  as  so  much  water  would  settle 
there.  This  may  take  an  hour,  or  it  may  take  six,  according  to 
circumstances.  As  often  as  they  dig  it  down,  I  reverse  the 
position  of  the  box,  just  whirling  it  around  if  it  stands  on  the 
edge  of  the  ditch.  This  brings  the  meal  again  at  the  raised  end 
of  the  box.  When  the  bees  have  it  dug  down  level  there  is  little 
to  be  seen  on  the  top  except  the  hulls  of  the  oats,  and  what  fun 
it  is  to  see  the  bees  burrow  in  this,  sometimes  clear  out  of  sight ! 

It  is  always  a  source  of  amusement  to  see  the  bees  working 
on  this  meal,  and  the  young  folks  watch  them  by  the  half-hour. 
By  night  the  oatmeal  and  finer  parts  of  the  corn  are  nearly  all 
worked  out,  and  after  the  bees  have  stopped  working,  the  boxes 
are  emptied,  piled  up,  one  on  top  of  another,  and  at  the  top, 
one  placed  upside  down  so  that  no  dew  or  rain  may  affect  them. 
If  I  think  it  is  not  worked  out  pretty  clean,  I  may  let  them  work 
it  over  next  day,  putting  three  or  four  times  as  much  in  a  box. 
When  the  bees  are  done  with  it,  there  will  be  empty  oat-hulls  on 
top,  and  the  coarse  part  of  the  corn  on  the  bottom.  It  does  not 
matter  if  it  is  not  worked  out  clean,  for  it  is  fed  to  the  horses 
or  cows  afterward. 

After  the  first  day’s  feeding,  the  boxes  must  be  filled  in 
good  season  in  the  morning,  or  the  bees  annoy  very  much  by 
being  in  the  way,  and  throughout  the  day,  while  the  bees  are  at 
work,  if  I  go  among  the  feed-boxes  to  turn  them,  or  for  any 
other  purpose,  I  must  look  sharp  where  I  set  my  feet,  or  bees 
will  be  killed,  as  they  are  quite  thick  over  the  ground,  brushing 
the  meal  off  their  bodies  and  packing  their  loads.  Before  many 
days  the  meal-boxes  are  deserted  for  the  now  plenty  natural 


94 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


pollen,  although  if  you  watch  the  bees,  as  they  go  laden  into  the 
hives,  even  when  working  thickest  in  the  boxes,  you  will  see  a 
good  many  carrying  in  heavy  loads  of  natural  pollen. 

It  seems  to  be  a  beneficent  natural  law,  that  bees  do  not 
like  to  crowd  one  another  in  their  search  for  pollen  or  nectar, 
or  else  the  meal-boxes  would  be  untouched  and  all  the  bees 
would  work  upon  the  insufficient  supply  of  pollen.  In  conse¬ 
quence  of  this  law  it  is  necessary  to  furnish  a  sufficient  number 

i 

f 


Fig.  32 — Combs  of  Honey. 


of  boxes,  for  although  the  bees  will  work  quite  thick  if  only  5 
boxes  are  left  for  150  colonies,  they  will  work  scarcely  thicker 
if  only  one  box  is  left. 

OUT-DOOR  FEEDING. 

I  have  fed  barrels  of  sugar  syrup  in  the  open  air,  and  it  is 
possible  that  circumstances  may  arise  to  induce  me  to  do  it 
again,  but  I  doubt. 

There  are  serious  objections  to  this  out-door  feeding.  You 
are  not  sure  what  portion  of  it  your  own  bees  will  get,  if  other 
bees  are  in  flying  distance.  Considerable  experience  has  proved 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


95 


to  me  that  by  this  method  of  feeding,  the  strong  colonies  get  the 
lion’s  share,  and  the  weak  colonies  very  little.  Moreover,  I  have 
seen  indications  that  part  of  the  colonies  get  none,  both  of  the 
weak  and  strong.  You  are  also  dependent  on  the  weather,  as 
wet  and  chilly  days  may  come,  when  bees  cannot  fly. 

As  already  mentioned,  when  bees  are  brought  out  of  the 
cellar,  colonies  are  marked  that  are  suspiciously  light,  and  their 
immediate  wants  supplied  as  soon  as  possible.  But  with  eight- 
frame  hives  there  will  be  a  good  many  colonies  that  will  run 
short  of  stores  before  there  is  any  chance  for  them  to  supply 
themselves  from  outside. 

STIMULATIVE  FEEDING. 

Some  would  say  that  I  ought  to  practice  stimulative  feeding 
for  the  sake  of  hastening  the  work  of  building  up  the  colony. 
But  it  takes  a  good  deal  of  wisdom  to  know  at  all  times  just 
how  to  manage  stimulative  feeding  so  as  not  to  do  harm  instead 
of  good ;  and  I  am  not  certain  that  I  have  the  wisdom. 

Whatever  else  may  be  true  about  spring  feeding,  I  am 
pretty  fully  settled  in  the  belief  that  it  is  of  first  importance 
that  the  bees  should  have  an  abundant  supply  of  stores,  whether 
such  supply  be  furnished  from  day  to  day  by  the  beekeeper, 
or  stored  up  by  the  bees  themselves  six  months  or  a  year  pre¬ 
viously.  Moreover,  I  believe  they  build  up  more  rapidly  if  they 
have  not  only  enough  to  use  from  day  to  day,  but  a  reserve  or 
visible  supply  for  future  use.  If  a  colony  comes  out  of  the 
cellar  strong,  and  with  combs  full  of  stores,  I  have  some  doubts 
if  I  can  hasten  its  building  up  by  any  tinkering  I  can  do.  So 
my  feeding  in  spring  is  to  make  sure  they  have  abundant  stores, 
rather  than  for  the  stimulation  of  frequent  giving. 

RAPID  CONSUMPTION  OF  STORES. 

After  so  many  years  of  experience  in  that  line,  I  am  never¬ 
theless  still  surprised  sometimes  to  find  how  rapidly  the  stores 
have  diminished  under  the  constantly  increasing  demands  made 
by  brood-rearing.  So  there  is  little  danger  of  getting  too  much 
honey  in  the  the  hive.  It  is  not  enough  to  have  sufficient  to  last 
till  the  white-clover  harvest  begins.  To  be  sure,  that  might  be 


96 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


all  right  so  far  a.s  the  building-up  of  the  colony  is  concerned. 
But  no  honey  will  be  put  in  the  supers  so  long  as  there  are 
empty  cells  in  the  brood-chamber,  and  it  is  better  to  have 
enough  honey  left  in  the  brood-chamber  so  that  the  first  white 
honey  shall  go  straight  into  the  supers. 

SURPLUS  COMBS  OF  HONEY. 

Nothing  is  better  than  to  have  plenty  of  full  combs  of 
sealed  honey  saved  over  from  the  previous  year,  with  which  to 
supply  any  colony  that  may  need  them.  If  I  were  as  good  a 
beekeeper  as  I  ought  to  be,  there  would  always  be  enough  of 
these  so  that  nothing  else  would  be  needed  to  take  their  place. 
But  I  am  not  as  good  a  beekeeper  as  I  ought  to  be,  and  while 
some  years  I  may  have  all  the  extra  combs  of  honey  that  can 
be  used,  at  other  times  they  may  run  short,  even  to  not  having 
enough  to  supply  the  pinching  wants  of  colonies  just  taken 
from  the  cellar.  There  may,  however,  be  some  combs  at  least 
partly  filled  that  have  been  taken  from  colonies  that  died  in 
winter,  or  from  the  uniting  of  colonies  in  spring,  and  these  may 
supplement  the  number  of  combs  saved  up  from  the  previous 
year. 


FEEDING  SECTIONS  OF  COMB  HONEY. 

When  the  combs  of  honey  are  all  gone,  the  next  best  thing 
is  to  give  sections  in  wide  frames.  This  seems  like  an  extrava¬ 
gant  thing  to  do ;  but  if  the  sections  contain  dark  or  objection¬ 
able  honey,  and  if  they  can  be  cleaned  out  and  used  for  baits, 
there  is  no  very  great  extravagance  about  it.  I  have  given 
sections  by  sliding  them  under  the  bottom-bars,  a  thing  very 
easily  done  with  bottom-boards  two  inches  deep,  but  such 
sections  are  ruined  for  use  as  baits,  and  all  you  can  do  with  the 
empty  comb  in  them  is  to  melt  it  into  wax. 

FEEDING  TO  FILL  COMBS. 

If  neither  combs  of  sealed  honey  nor  suitable  sections  are 
to  be  had,  then  feeding  with  Miller  feeders  is  in  order.  But 
colonies  that  need  feeding  in  spring  are  not  always  very  strong, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


97 


and  a  weak  colony  makes  rather  poor  work  on  a  feeder  at  that 
time.  Instead  of  distributing  feeders  to  all  colonies  that  need 
feeding,  they  are  limited  to  a  small  number  of  the  very  strong¬ 
est,  whether  these  need  feeding  or  not.  Then  filled  combs  are 
taken  from  these  strong,  colonies  and  given  to  the  needy  colonies 
whether  at  home  or  in  the  out-apiaries,  for  the  feeders  are  gen¬ 
erally  used  only  at  home. 

It  may  be  •  that  these  strong  colonies  are  already  well 
supplied  with  honey.,  Whatever  honey  they  have  is  taken  from 
them,  unless  it  be  in  combs  containing  brood,  and  empty  combs 
given  in  place.  The  feeder  is  put  directly  on  the  brood-cham¬ 
ber.  After  the  bees  get  a  fair  start  on  the  feeder  an  upper 
story  with  empty  combs  may  be  given,  but  just  at  first  they  will 
make  a  better  start  without  this  second  story.  When  the  feeder 
is  put  on  5  or  10  pounds  of  sugar  is  poured  in,  and  an  equal 
quantity  of  water  poured  on  the  sugar.  It  is  much  better  1o 
have  the  water  hot.  It  would  be  well  to  fill  the  feeder  full,  but 
in  that  case  a  good  portion  of  it  would  be  left  to  get  cold,  and 
faster  work  will  be  done  if  no  more  is  given  each  day  than  will 
be  taken  that  day.  Very  often  when  I  go  around  to  the  feeders 
next  morning  I  find  most  of  them  with  sugar  still  in  the  feeder, 
but  the  liquid  all  taken.  That  doesn’t  matter;  more  water  can 
be  added.  Indeed,  12  or  15  pounds  of  sugar  may  be  put  in  the 
feeder,  and  then  each  day  only  so  much  water  as  the  bees  will 
use  out  that  day;  for  they  are  not  likely  to  do  much  at  night 
unless  the  weather  be  quite  warm. 

WHOLESALE  FEEDING. 

There  come  times,  however,  when  the  feeding  must  be 
rushed,  and  there  can  be  no  puttering  with  getting  one  colony  to 
store  for  another.  One  of  those  times  came  in  the  year  1902. 
The  second  week  in  June,  at  the  time  when  in  a  good  season 
there  ought  to  be  lively  work  piling  on  supers,  I  found  nearly 
every  colony  on  the  point  of  starvation.  If  there  was  any 
difference,  the  strongest  colonies  were  the  worst.  The  combs 
were  filled  with  brood,  requiring  large  daily  consumption,  stores 
in  the  hive  were  exhausted,  and  not  enough  for  daily  supplies 
coming  in.  It  would  hardly  be  proper  economy  to  have  combs 
filled  with  honey  saved  up  for  such  emergencies,  seeing  that  they 


98 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


are  not  expected  to  come  often,  so  the  whole  force  of  feeders, 
some  fifty,  were  put  into  action. 

Part  were  put  in  the  home  apiary  and  part  taken  to  the 
out-apiaries.  When  going  to  an  out-apiary  a  bag  of  sugar  was 
taken  along.  Water  was  put  in  the  wash-boiler  on  the  cook- 
stove  and  a  good  fire  built  under  it.  A  good-sized  tin  pail  was 
filled  half  full  or  more  with  the  heated  water,  then  sugar  was 
poured  in  till  the  pail  was  nearly  full,  and  it  was  stirred  with 
a  stick  till  fairly  well  dissolved,  which  did  not  take  very  long. 
The  syrup  was  then  poured  into  the  feeder  on  one  of  the  hives,  a 


Fig.  33 — Combs  of  Brood 

pail  half  full  of  water  was  taken  in  and  poured  into  the  boiler, 
and  then  another  colony  was  fed,  and  this  was  continued  till  all 
the  feeders  were  supplied.  The  next  day  or  so  the  feeders  were 
shifted  to  another  set  of  hives,  till  all  were  fed. 

FEEDING  IN  JUNE. 

You  will  notice  this  is  considerably  different  from  the  early 
spring  feeding.  The  colonies  were  stronger  in  June,  the  weather 
warmer,  and  the  bees  made  rapid  work  carrying  down  the  feed. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


99 


It  was  better  to  dissolve  the  sugar  before  putting  it  in  the 
feeders  (perhaps  it  is  better  at  any  time),  for  then  there  was 
no  danger  of  having  dry  sugar  left  in  the  feeder.  Perhaps  there 
was  no  real  gain  in  using  hot  water  when  the  colonies  were 
strong  and  the  weather  warm.  I  tried  cold  water  in  some  cases, 
and  it  worked  all  right,  only  it  took  more  stirring. 

ORIGINAL  MILLER  FEEDER. 

Most  of  my  feeders  are  of  the  original  pattern  (Fig.  40). 
At  Fig.  41  is  seen  one  of  them  dissected.  The  lower  part  is  an 
ordinary  section-super.  On  this  rests  the  feeder  proper,  with 
the  little  board  at  one  end  removed,  also  the  little  board  at  one 
side,  so  as  to  show  the  inside  wall  under  which  the  syrup  may 
flow,  and  the  outside  wall,  which  lacks  enough  of  coming  to  the 
top  so  that  the  bees  can  come  up  over  it  and  gc  down  into  the 
. feed. 

IMPROVED  MILLER  FEEDER. 

The  improved  Miller  feeder  of  the  catalogs,  instead  of 
being  all  in  one  has  two  parts,  and  the  bees  go  up  through  the 
middle.  I  thought  it  was  an  important  improvement  to  allow 
the  bees  to  go  up  the  middle  instead  of  up  the  two  sides,  because 
the  heat  ought  to  be  greater  at  the  middle.  After  a  thorough 
trial  of  the  two,  side  by  side,  I  am  obliged  to  admit  that, the 
improvement  is  one  in  theory  only,  and  that  the  bees  go  up  the 
sides  whenever  they  will  go  up  the  middle,  and  it  seems  a  little 
better  to  have  the  feed  all  in  one  dish. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  expense  of  keeping  two  sets  of 
feeders,  I  should  like  to  keep  a  set  of  Doolittle  division-board 
feeders,  for  there  may  come  times  when  it  is  cool  and  bees  will 
not  take  feed  readily  from  a  Miller  feeder,  yet  would  take  it 
from  a  division-board  feeder,  because  closer  to  the  brood-nest. 
But  most  times  I  should  prefer  the  Miller,  so  that  has  the 
preference. 

CROCK-AND-PLATE  FEEDER. 

I  have  used  the  crock-and-plate  feeder  (Fig.  43),  and  it 
answers  a  very  good  purpose.  It  has  the  advantage  that  any 


100 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


one  can  make  a  feeder  at  a  minute’s  notice  with  materials  always 
ready  to  hand.  Take  a  gallon  crock,  fill  it  half  full  of  granu¬ 
lated  sugar;  then  fill  nearly  full  with  water,  all  the  better  if 
stirred  till  dissolved ;  cover  over  the  crock  a  thickness  of  flannel 
or  other  woolen  cloth,  or  else  four  or  five  thicknesses  of  cheese¬ 
cloth;  over  this  lay  a  dinner-plate  upside  down;  then  with  one 
hand  under  the  crock  and  the  other  over  the  plate,  quickly  turn 
the  whole  thing  upside  down.  Of  course  a  smaller  quantity  of 
feed  may  be  used  if  desired. 


Fig.  34 — Part  of  Home  Apiary  (from  Northwest) . 


The  feeder  is  then  set  over  the  frames  of  a  colony,  an 
empty  hive-body  placed  over,  and  all  covered  up  so  no  bee  can 
get  to  it  except  through  the  regular  hive-entrance. 

WATERING-CROCK. 

This  crock-and-plate  feeder  is  a  good  one  for  those  who 
like  outdoor  feeding,  if  only  a  small  quantity  is  to  be  fed.  It 
also  makes  a  good  watering-place  for  bees,  if  one  does  not  mind 
the  trouble.  Better  than  this  is  a  six-gallon  crock  standing 
upright  with  a  few  sticks  of  fire-wood  in  it  for  a  watering- 
crock  (Fig.  44).  A  little  salt  thrown  into  the  water  helps  to 


mosquitoes. 

CORK-CHIPS  FOR  WATERING. 

/ 

But  1  hit  upon  something  that  is  so  effective,  so  cheap,  and 
so  little  trouble,  that  I  can  hardly  imagine  anything  better.  Go 
to  your  grocer  and  ask  him  to  save  you  some  cork-chips,  such 
as  he  gets  in  kegs  of  grapes,  and  probably  throws  away.  Take' 
a  pail  or  other  vessel  (I  use  a  half-barrel),  put  in  as  much 
water  as  you  like,  and  on  this  put  on  so  much  of  the  cork-chips 
that  the  water  w7ill  barely  come  up  enough  for  the  bees  to  reach. 
A  bee  can  not  drown  in  this.  When  the  water  gets  low,  a  fresh 
supply  can  be  poured  in,  and  it  does  no  great  harm  to  pour  it 
directly  on  the  bees.  They  climb  easily  to  the  top  of  the  cork 
after  their  bath.  The  cork  remains  effective  throughout  a  whole 
season. 

It  is  important  to  start  the  watering-place  early  in  the 
season,  before  the  bees  make  a  start  at  some  pump  or  other 
place  where  they  will  be  troublesome. 

LACK  OF  SYSTEM. 

I  would  like  to  say  that  I  am  very  methodical  about  over¬ 
hauling  and  seeing  to  the  building  up  of  colonies,  from  the  time 
they  are  placed  on  the  summer  stands  till  the  honey  harvest 
begins,  but  it  would  hardly  be  in  accordance  with  facts.  Con¬ 
ditions  of  bees  or  weather  mav  make  a  difference  in  the  course 

« j 

of  action.  Possibly  some  other  duties  aside  from  the  direct 
care  of  the  bees  may  make  a  difference.  So  when  I  attempt  to 
tell  things  just  as  they  are,  my  want  of  system  confronts  me, 
and  makes  the  task  somewhat  difficult. 

At  this  point  I  fancy  I  can  hear  some  of  my  good  friends 
saying,  “  Why  don’t  you  keep  a  smaller  number  of  colonies,  so 
that  you  can  have  system  enough  to  be  able  to  tell  a  straight 
story,  and  derive  more  pleasure  and  profit?  ”  I  know  it  would 
be  more  pleasure;  as  to  the  profit,  I  doubt.  If  I  had  so  few 
that  I  could  at  all  times  do  every  thing  by  a  perfect  system,  I 
am  afraid  I  should  have  part  of  the  time  a  good  deal  of  idle 
time  on  my  hands.  Neither  is  it  fair  for  me  to  charge  my  lack 


102 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


of  system  entirely  to  the  number  of  colonies.  Some  of  it  comes 
from  ignorance  in  not  knowing  how  to  do  any  better,  some  of 
it  from  changing  plans  constantly,  and  perhaps  some  of  it  from 
lack  of  energy  in  doing  every  thing  just  at  the  right  time. 

DIVISION-BOARDS. 

In  former  years  I  made  some  attempt  to  keep  the  bees 
warmer  by  the  use  of  a  division-board,  closing  down  to  the 
number  of  combs  actually  needed  at  the  time  by  the  bees.  I  was 
disappointed  to  find  no  clear  proof  that  any  great  good  came 
from  it.  Since  then  the  experiments  of  Gaston  Bonnier  have 
shown  that  combs  serve  as  good  a  purpose  as  a  division-board, 
so  the  trouble  of  moving  a  division-board  from  time  to  time  to 
accommodate  the  size  of  the  colony  is  avoided. 

VERY  WEAK  COLONIES  IN  SPRING. 

I  have  had,  one  time  and  another,  a  good  many  very  weak 
colonies  in  the  spring,  and  I  am  puzzled  to  know  what  to  do 
with  them.  It  seems  of  no  use  to  unite  them,  for  I  have  united 
five  into  one,  and  the  united  colony  seemed  to  do  no  better  than 
one  left  separate.  About  all  I  try  to  do  is  to  keep  the  queen 
alive  till  I  find  some  queenless  colony  with  which  to  unite  them. 

One  year  I  took  the  queens  of  five  or  six  very  weak  colonies, 
put  them  in  small  cages,  and  laid  the  cages  on  top  of  the  frames, 
under  the  quilt,  over  a  strong  colony.  When  I  next  overhauled 
this  colony,  its  queen  was  gone,  probably  killed  by  the  bees  on 
account  of  the  presence  of  other  queens,  but  the  queens  in  the 
cages  were  in  good  condition,  and  became  afterward  the  mothers 
of  fine  colonies.  I  had  put  two  of  the  queens  in  one  cage,  as  I 
was  short  of  cages,  and  did  not  attach  much  value  to  the  queens, 
and  these  two  did  as  well  as  the  others.  Of  course  this  was  an 
exception  to  the  general  rule. 

In  my  locality  I  do  not  think  the  colonies  can  ever  become 
strong  and  populous  too  early  in  the  season.  Theoretically,  at 
least,  then,  I  see  that  every  colony  as  soon  as  it  comes  out  of  the 
cellar  has  plenty  of  stores  to  last  it  for  some  time.  I  know 
this  is  a  very  indefinite  amount.  Perhaps  I  might  make  it  more 
definite  by  saying,  for  an  ordinary  colony,  the  equivalent  of 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES  103 

two  full  combs  of  stores.  If  they  have  not  so  much  I  supply 
them.  I  formerly  thought  it  desirable  to  have  any  feed  given 
them  as  far  as  possible  from  the  brood-nest,  so  that  they  might 
have  the  feeling  they  were  accumulating  from  abroad.  Further 
observation  makes  me  place  less  confidence  in  this. 

STRONG  VERSUS  WEAK  COLONIES. 

I  think  that  with  increasing  years  I  have  an  increasing- 
aversion  to  weak  colonies.  At  the  time  of  the  honey  harvest 
40,000  bees  in  two  colonies  will  not  begin  to  store  as  much  us 
the  same  bees  would  do  if  they  were  all  in  one  colony.  Of 
course  you  have  thought  of  that,  but  possibly  you  have  not 
noticed  so  clearly  that  something  like  the  same  rule  holds  good 
about  building  up  in  spring.  Take  a  colony  that  comes  out  of 
the  cellar  with  only  enough  bees  to  cover  two  combs.  It  w7ill 
remain  at  a  standstill  for  a  long  time.  Indeed,  it  may  not  stand 
still,  but  may  become  weaker,  so  that  it  will  not  have  as  much 
brood  June  1  as  May  1,  with  a  possibility  of  pegging  out  alto¬ 
gether  before  the  harvest  opens.  On  the  other  hand  a  colony 
with  bees  enough  to  cover  well  three  frames  is  likely  to  hold  its 
own,  beginning  to  increase  slowly  as  soon  as  weather  permits; 
and  if  it  has  bees  enough  to  cover  four  frames  it  will  walk  right 
along  increasing  its  brood-nest. 

GIVING  BROOD  TO  STRONGER. 

Shall  I  take  frames  of  brood  from  strong  colonies  to  give 
to  the  weaklings?  Not  I.  For  the  damage  to  the  strong  colo¬ 
nies  will  more  than  overbalance  the  benefit  to  the  weaklings. 
If  any  taking  from  one  colony  to  give  another  is  done  in  the 
spring,  it  will  be  to  take  from  the  weak  to  give  to  those  not  so 
weak.  If  one  colony  has  four  frames  of  brood  and  another  two, 
taking  from  the  stronger  frames  for  the  weaker  would  leave 
both  so  weak  they  would  not  build  up  very  rapidly,  whereas 
taking  one  from  the  two-frame  colony  and  giving  it  to  the  four- 
frame  colony  would  make  the  latter  build  up  so  much  faster 
that  it  could  pay  back  with  interest  the  borrowed  frame. 


104  FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 

GIVING  BROOD  TO  WEAKER. 

Not  till  a  colony  has  six  or  eight  frames  of  brood  is  it 
desirable  to  draw  from  it  brood  for  weaker  colonies,  and  there’s 
no  hurry  about  it  then.  When  a  colony  has  its  hive  so  crowded 
with  brood  that  the  queen  seems  to  need  more  room,  then  a 
frame  of  brood  can  be  taken  from  it  to  help  others.  The  first  to 
be  helped  are  not  the  weakest,  but  the  strongest  of  those  with 
less  than  four  frames  of  brood.  When  the  three-framers  are  all 
brought  up  to  four  frames,  it  is  time  enough  to  help  the  weaker 


Fig.  35 — Part  of  Home  Apiary  ( from  Southwest  ) . 

ones.  Toward  the  last  the  little  fellows  can  be  helped  up  quite 
rapidly.  Perhaps  a  colony  with  two  or  three  brood  (if  you  will 
allow  me  to  use  brood  for  short  when  I  mean  frames  of  brood) 
has  had  brood  taken  from  it,  leaving  it  with  only  one  brood. 
It  has  stood  for  several  weeks,  and  now  it  can  have  three  or 
four  brood  given  to  it,  setting  it  well  on  its  feet. 

When  brood  is  thus  taken,  generally  the  adhering  bees  are 
taken  with  the  brood,  of  course  making  sure  that  no  queen  is 
taken.  Where  a  single  brood  is  given  with  adhering  bees  to  a 
colony,  I  have  never  known  any  harm  to  come  to  the  queen  of 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


105 


the  reinforced  colony.  In  rare  cases  I  have  had  the  queen  killed 
when  several  frames  of  brood  have  been  given  at  a  time  to  a 
very  weak  colony.  A  precautionary  rule  is  that  when  more  than 
one  brood  is  given  at  a  time,  each  one  is  taken  from  a  different 
colony. 

GIVING  SECOND  STORY. 

When  a  colony  is  beginning  to  be  crowded  and  there  are  no 
colonies  needing  help,  and  sometimes  even  when  others  do  need 
help,  a  second  story  is  given.  This  second  story  is  given  below. 
Putting  an  empty  story  below  does  not  cool  off  the  bees  like 
putting  one  above.  The  bees  can  move  down  as  fast  as  they 
need  the  room.  Indeed  this  second  story  is  often  given  long 
before  it  is  needed,  and  sometimes  two  empty  stories  are  given, 
for  it  is  a  nice  thing  to  have  the  combs  in  the  care  of  the  bees. 
They  will  be  kept  free  from  moths,  and  if  any  are  mouldy  they 
will  be  nicely  cleaned  out  ready  for  use  when  wanted. 

Sometimes  when  a  colony  is  very  strong  and  a  story  of 
empty  combs  is  given  below,  a  frame  of  brood  is  taken  from 
the  upper  story  and  put  below,  an  empty  comb  being  put  in  its 
place  above.  But  unless  the  colony  is  very  strong,  this  hinders 
rather  than  helps  the  building  up. 

So  good  a  beekeeper  as  G.  M.  Doolittle  practiced  giving 
the  extra  story  on  top.  I  protested,  at  least  mentally,  against 
dissipating  the  heat  of  the  colony  in  that  way.  Yet  in  the 
spring  of  1914  I  did  exactly  that  thing  myself !  By  the  middle 
of  May  colonies  were  unusually  strong,  and  there  were  no  longer 
any  weak  colonies  to  which  brood  could  be  given  after  being 
taken  from  the  stronger  colonies.  The  only  thing  to  do  was  to 
give  extra  stories  to  colonies  which  needed  more  room,  or  else  to 
limit  the  queen  to  one  story,  a  very  unwise  thing  up  to  the  time 
of  giving  supers.  So  I  began  giving  to  the  strongest  colonies 
an  upper  story,  putting  in  it  two  brood  from  below.  I  put  the 
extra  story  above  instead  of  below,  not  because  it  was  better 
for  the  bees,  nor  to  gratify  Doolittle,  but  because  that  was  the 
easier  thing  for  the  beekeeper,  and  the  bees  would  just  have 
to  stand  it.  A  day  or  two  later  it  began  to  be  evident  that  any 
colony  in  the  apiary  might  need  more  room,  and  so  I  made  a 
wholesale  business  of  giving  an  extra  story  to  each  colony,  with 


106 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


the  exception  of  one  or  two.  To  make  the  work  still  easier  for 
the  beekeeper,  instead  of  putting  two  frames  of  brood  in  the 
upper  story,  i  merely  put  in  it  five  empty  combs.  That  took 
less  than  half  the  time,  and  would  also  take  much  less  time  when 
it  came  to  putting  on  supers,  especially  in  the  case  of  a  colony 
which  had  started  no  brood  above.  That  gave  plenty  of  room 
above  for  the  queen  to  use  if  she  needed  it.  If  she  didn’t  need 
it,  no  harm  was  done  beyond  cooling  off  the  heads  of  the  bees 
more  than  they  might  like. 


Fig.  36 — Comb  Resting  Diagonally  in  Hive. 

I  may  say  here  that  after  a  good  deal  of  experience  with 
colonies  having  two  stories,  I  find  that  there  is  no  trouble  from 
having  the  queen  stay  exclusively  in  one  or  other  of  the  stories. 
She  passes  up  and  down  freely,  keeping  filled  with  brood  in 
both  stories  as  many  combs  as  the  bees  will  care  for. 

SUBSEQUENT  OVERHAULING. 

Any  overhauling  subsequent  to  the  first  is  an  easy  matter. 
As  a  broodless  frame  was  left  at  the  further  side  at  the  first 
overhauling,  and  the  brood-nest  commenced  with  the  next  frame, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


107 


I  can  count  that  the  bees  will  continue  this  arrangement,  only 
in  some  cases  there  will  be  brood  found  in  the  outside  frame. 
So  in  any  examination  after  the  first,  I  commence  at  the  near 
side ;  and  when  I  come  to  the  first  frame  of  brood,  I  need  go  no 
further,  for  I  know  that  the  brood-nest  will  occupy  all  the  rest 
of  the  combs  except  the  outside  one.  If  they  have  not  plenty 
of  feed,  of  course  it  can  be  given,  although  it  may  not  often  be 
necessary  to  give  stores  the  second  time,  for  in  this  locality  they 
can  get  good  supplies  from  fruit-bloom.  I  suppose  they  can 
forage  upon  10,000  fruit-trees  without  going  a  mile. 

If,  however,  the  first  frame  of  brood  I  come  to  contains 
only  sealed  brood,  I  must  look  further  to  see  whether  they 
have  eggs  or  very  young  brood,  for  it  is  possible  they  may  have 
become  queenless.  If  eggs  are  plentiful,  but  no  unsealed  brood, 
I  know  that  they  have  a  young  queen  which  has  commenced 
laying,  and  I  must  find  her  and  clip  her  wings. 

If  there  is  nothing  but  sealed  brood,  and  no  eggs,  I  am  not 
sure  whether  they  have  a  queen  or  not,  and  it  is  not  safe  to  give 
them  one  till  I  do  know,  so  I  give  them,  from  another  colony,  a 
comb  containing  eggs  and  young  brood.  I  make  a  record  of 
giving  them  this  young  brood  thus:  “  May  20,  no  eg  gybr,”  (no 
eggs;  gave  young  brood),  and  in  perhaps  a  week  I  look  to  see 
in  what  condition  they  are.  If  I  find  queen-cells  started  I  am 
pretty  sure  they  have  no  queen. 

QUEENLESS  COLONIES. 

What  shall  be  done  in  that  case  depends.  If  the  colony  is 
weak,  it  is  at  once  broken  up,  brood  and  bees  being  given  wher¬ 
ever  they  may  be  needed,  and  I  heave  a  sigh  of  relief  to  think  I 
am  rid  of  the  weakling.  If  it  is  strong — an  accident  may  have 
happened  to  the  queen  of  a  strong  colony  at  the  last  overhaul-, 
ing — it  may  be  broken  up  and  the  brood  and  bees  distributed 
where  they  will  do  the  most  good,  but  more  likely  a  weaker 
colony  with  a  good  queen  will  be  united  with  it.  Just  possibly, 
the  queen-cells  started  may  be  allowed  to  go  on  to  completion. 

BROOD  AS  A  STIMULANT. 

If  it  happened  that  they  had  a  virgin  queen  when  the 
young  brood  was  given  them,  the  presence  of  this  brood  is  sup- 


108 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


posed  to  stimulate  the  queen  to  lay  the  sooner,  and  I  may  find 
eggs  on  this  later  inspection.  It  may  be,  however,  that  I  shall 
find  neither  eggs  nor  queen-cell,  in  which  case  I  consider  it 
probable  that  thej7  have  a  queen  which  has  not  yet  commenced 
to  lay,  and  they  are  left  for  examination  later. 

LAYING  WORKERS. 

Although  laying  workers  are  not  so  likely  to  be  found  early 
in  the  year,  it  is  still  possible.  In  some  cases  the  scattered  con¬ 
dition  of  the  brood  awakens  immediate  suspicion.  This  scattered 
condition  is  shown  in  Fig.  59,  but  the  picture  does  not  clearly 
show  how  the  sealed  brood  projects  above  the  surface  like  so 
many  little  marbles,  being  thus  projected  because  drone-brood 
is  in  worker-cells. 

Often  the  presence  of  laying  workers  can  be  detected  before 
there  is  any  sealed  brood,  by  the  fact  that  drone-cells  are  chosen 
in  preference  to  worker-cells,  that  is,  drone-cells  will  be  filled 
with  eggs  or  brood — perhaps  two  or  more  eggs  in  a  cell — while 
plenty  of  unused  worker-cells  seem  handy.  Eggs  in  queen-cells 
are  also  likely  to  be  found,  and  if  you  find  a  queen-cell  with 
more  than  one  egg  in  it  you  may  be  pretty  sure  laying  workers 
have  set  up  business.  Sometimes  a  dozen  of  eggs  may  be  found 
in  one  queen-cell.  An  egg  in  a  queen-cell  with  no  other  brood 
or  eggs  present  is  a  pretty  sure  sign  of  laying  workers. 

TREATMENT  OF  LAYING-WORKER  COLONIES. 

When  a  colony  of  laying  workers  is  found  early  in  the 
season,  about  the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  break  it  up,  and  it 
matters  little  what  is  done  with  the  bees.  They  are  old,  and  of 
little  value.  Indeed,  there  are  never  any  very  young  bees  with 
laying  workers,  when  the  bees  are  Italians  or  blacks,  and  it  may 
be  the  best  thing  in  all  cases  to  break  them  up,  distributing  the 
bees  and  combs  to  other  colonies. 

Yet  if  a  strong  colony  is  found  at  any  time  with  laying 
workers,  and  if,  for  any  reason,  it  may  seem  desirable  to  con¬ 
tinue  the  colony,  a  queen-cell,  or  a  virgin  queen  just  hatched 
may  be  given,  for  it  is  not  easy  to  get  them  to  accept  a  laying 
queen. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


109 


DRONE-LAYING  QUEENS. 

Drone-brood  in  worker-cells  may  be  present  with  no  laying 
workers — the  work  of  a  drone-laying  or  failing  queen.  The 
brood  in  that  case,  however,  will  not  be  so  scattering  as  in  Fig. 
59.  Such  a  colony  is  more  amenable  to  treatment,  and  can  be 
well  utilized  by  uniting  with  a  weak  colony  having  a  laying 
queen. 

BREAKING  UP  FAULTY  COLONIES. 

When  fruit  blossoms  are  about  ready  to  burst  forth,  and 
bees  are  carrying  pollen  whenever  it  is  warm  enough,  I  do  not 


Fig.  37 — Painted  Tin  Hive-covers. 

expect  to  lose  any  more  colonies  except  those  that  are  queenless 
or  have  faulty  queens.  But  I  do  expect  to  have  the  satisfaction 
of  breaking  up  every  colony  that  does  not  have  a  good  queen, 
for  when  I  find  a  colony  that  is  queenless  or  one  whose  queen 
is  more  or  less  a  drone-layer,  it  is  no  longer  any  satisfaction  to 
me  to  nurse  it  and  coax  it  along  for  the  sake  of  saying  I  have 
not  lost  that  colony.  The  real  satisfaction  is  in  having  it  out  of 
the  way.  Time  was  when  it  seemed  a  nice  thing  in  case  of 


110 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


finding  a  strong  colony  without  a  queen  to  give  it  young  brood 
and  let  it  rear  a  queen ;  but  much  observation  has  shown  that  a 
queen  reared  thus  early  is  only  an  aggravation  nine  times  out 
of  ten.  So  when  a  colony  is  found  that  is  not  queen-right,  it  is 
remorselessly  broken  up,  and  distributed  amongst  other  colonies, 
or  united  with  a  weak  colony  having  a  good  queen.  The  break¬ 
ing  up  of  such  colonies  does  not  make  the  number  less  in  the 
long  run,  for  by  fall  the  number  can  be  made  greater  than  if 
no  breaking  up  had  taken  place. 

RECORD  ENTRIES. 

While  care  is  taken  to  omit  no  entry  in  the  book  that  will 
be  of  future  importance,  there  is  really  not  such  a  great  deal 
of  writing  done,  as  will  be  readily  understood  when  it  is  remem¬ 
bered  that  only  one  page  is  allotted  to  three  colonies,  allowing 
only  22  square  inches  for  each.  It  is  seldom  that  a  colony 
requires  more  than  its  allotted  space  in  the  season,  hardly  half 
the  space  being  used  on  the  average.  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
monotony  about  the  entries,  and  there  are  a  few  words  which 
are  so  frequently  used  that  abbreviations  aid  much  in  saving- 
room  and  time  for  making  entries.  Some  abbreviations  that  are 
constantly  used  are  as  follows :  b  for  bees,  br  for  brood,  c  or  qc 
for  queen-cell,  g  for  gave,  k  for  killed  or  destroyed  (kc  means 
I  destroyed  the  queen-cells),  q  for  queen,  s  for  saw,  but  sc 
means  sealed  queen-cell,  t  for  took,  v  for  virgin  queen,  □ 
for  super. 

PLACE  FOR  PENCIL. 

To  make  sure  of  having  a  pencil  always  handy  to  make 
entries,  it  is  tied  to  the  book,  as  also  is  a  pair  of  scissors  for 
clipping  queens  unless  the  latter  is  replaced  by  a  pair  of  pocket 
scissors.  A  strong  string  is  put  in  the  middle  of  the  book, 
passed  around  the  back  and  tied,  and  to  this  is  tied  a  long  string 
that  holds  the  pencil,  and  another  for  the  scissors.  To  prevent 
the  scissors  hanging  open  with  its  two  sharp  points,  a  common 
rubber  band  is  so  fastened  on  the  handles  as  to  hold  them  to¬ 
gether.  While  the  band  holds  the  scissors  together  when  not 
in  use,  its  elasticity  allows  their  free  use  when  needed. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ill 


KILLING  GRASS. 

This  is  a  good  time  to  salt  the  ground  at  and  about  the 
entrances  of  the  hives,  to  kill  the  grass,  although  too  often  I 
leave  it  till  it  has  to  be  cut  with  a  sickle.  Grass  growing  in 
front  of  the  hive  annoys  the  bees,  and  that  growing  at  the  side 
annoys  the  operator,  especially  if  the  operator  is  of  the  female 
persuasion,  and  the  grass  is  wet  with  dew  or  rain. 

HARBINGERS  OF  HARVEST. 

There  are  certain  things  always  noticed  by  a  beekeeper, 
with  much  interest,  as  heralding  the  beginning  of  spring  or  of 


Fig.  38 — Zinc  Hive-covers. 

the  honey-harvest.  Among  these  are  the  singing  of  frogs,  the 
advent  of  bluebirds,  and  the  opening  of  various  blossoms.  With 
me  the  highest  interest  centers  in  white  clover.  As  I  go  back 
and  forth  to  the  out-apiaries,  I  am  always  watching  the  patches 
of  white  clover  along  the  roadside.  If  your  attention  has  never 
been  called  to  it,  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  long  it  is 
from  the  time  the  first  blossom  may  be  seen,  till  clover  opens 
out  so  bees  will  work  upon  it.  I  usually  see  a  stray  blossom 


112 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


days  before  it  seems  to  have  any  company.  In  my  location  I  do 
not  count  upon  anything  usually  besides  white  clover  for  sur¬ 
plus,  so  no  wonder  I  am  interested  in  it. 

VARIOUS  HONEY-PLANTS. 

Yet  there  are  a  good  many  other  plants  whose  help,  all 
taken  together,  is  not  to  be  despised.  If  I  kept  only  a  few 
colonies,  it  is  quite  possible  that  I  might  secure  some  surplus 
from  more  than  one  of  them. 

Dandelions  help  no  little  in  brood-rearing. 

Raspberries  are  eagerly  visited  by  the  bees,  but  there  are 
not  enough  of  them  to  give  a  noticeable  amount  of  raspberry 
honey.  It  is  a  very  pleasant  sight  to  see  the  bees  thickly  cover¬ 
ing  a  field  of  raspberries  in  full  bloom  (Fig.  45). 

Red  clover  may  yet  be  of  importance.  Whether  it  be  the 
change  in  the  bees  or  the  change  in  the  season  I  do  not  know, 
but  formerly  I  never  saw  a  bee  on  red  clover  except  at  rare 
intervals,  and  now  it  is  quite  common.  I  think  it  may  be  that 
the  bees  are  different. 

•  *  i 

Alsike  clover  is  becoming  common. 

*  '  .  '  »• 

SWEET  CLOVER. 

It  is  hard  to  tell  just  how  much,  but  I  think  the  bees  gather 
quite  a  little  from  sweet  clover  (Fig.  46).  The  earlier  part  of 
the  sweet-clover  bloom  is  probably  of  no  great  value,  because  it 
comes  at  the  same  time  as  white  clover,  but  it  continues  after 
white  clover  is  gone,  thus  making  it  of  greater  value.  It  has  a 
habit  of  throwing  out  fresh  shoots  of  blossoms  on  the  lower  part 
of  the  stalk  after  the 'whole  stalk,  has  gone  to  seed  and  appears 
dead,  and  thus  it  continues  the  blooming  season  till  freezing 
weather  comes  bn.  A  branch  of  this  kind  will  be  seen  at  the 
right  in  Fig.  4'6.  I  value  sweet  clover  for  hay.  \ 

Yellow  sweet  clover  blooms  from  two  to  four  weeks  earlier 
than  white  sweet  clover,  arid  on  that  account  is  of  less  value  in 
a  year  when  common  white  clover  yields  well.  But  iri  the  years 
when  common  white  clover  is  a  failure  yellow  sweet  clover  may 
be  of  very  great  value,  for  so  far  as  I  know  there  are  no  years 
of  failure  with  either  kind  of  sweet  clover.  There  may  be  no 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


113 


small  advantage  in  having  the  annual  variety  of  yellow  sweet 
clover. 

Alfalfa  (Fig.  47)  has  become  quite  common  here,  a  boom 
for  it  having  started  about  1912.  But  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  see  a 
bee  at  work  upon  it,  and  I  think  it  is  generally  understood  that 
it  does  not  yield  nectar  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

GIANT  WHITE  CLOVER. 

A  new  honey-plant  was  mentioned  a  good  deal  in  foreign 
bee-journals,  a  giant  white  clover,  called  Colossal  Ladino  (Fig. 
48).  I  succeeded  in  getting  some  seed  from  Switzerland,  sowed 
a  few  of  them  in  the  window  in  the  winter,  and  had  the  plants 
blooming  in  the  summer  of  1902.  For  the  purpose  of  compari¬ 
son  you  will  see  in  Fig.  48,  at  the  right,  a  branch  of  red  clover, 
and  at  the  left  a  plant  of  common  white  or  Dutch  clover,  both 
grown  on  the  same  ground.  As  you  will  see  by  looking  at  the 
picture,  the  new  plant  has  leaves  as  large  as  those  of  red  clover 
and  in  appearance  I  think  they  are  identical.  The  blossom, 
however,  which  you  will  see  toward  the  left,  looks  precisely  like 
a  large  white-clover  blossom.  The  habit  of  growth,  too,  is  that 
of  the  common  white  clover,  running  along  the  ground  and 
taking  root  as  it  goes.  A  look  at  the  picture  will  show  this,  the 
roots  being  seen  coming  from  the  stalk  at  the  left. 

Just  how  much  value  there  is  in  this  new  clover  I  do  not 
know.  As  will  be  seen,  it  grows  much  larger  than  the  common 
white,  but  only  as  its  leaves  and  leaf  stems  are  larger,  for  it 
does  not  grow  up  and  throw  out  branches  like  red  clover.  It 
died  out  the  second  winter. 

LINDEN,  CATNIP,  GOLDENROD,  ASTERS,  HEARTSEASE. 

Linden  or  basswood  (Fig.  49)  is  a  scarce  article,  the  flavor 
of  linden  honey  being  seldom  perceptible  in  any  honey  stored 
by  my  bees.  I  take  great  pleasure,  however,  in  the  sight  of  a 
row  of  lindens  running  from  the  public  road  up  to  the  house 
(Fig.  5°). 

Fat  nip  (Fig.  51)  is  scattered  about  in  some  places  quite 
plentifully  where  it  has  the  protection  of  hedges,  for  which  it 
seems  to  have  a  great  liking.  It  has  a  long  season. 


114 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Goldenrod  (Fig.  52)  grows  in  abundance  in  several  vari¬ 
eties,  and  while  other  insects  may  be  seen  upon  it  in  great 
numbers,  a  bee  is  seldom  seen  upon  it.  Much  the  same  may  be 
said  of  the  asters  (Figs.  53  and  54).  In  some  other  places  both 
these  plants  ace  said  to  be  well  visited  by  the  bees. 

The  summer  of  1902  was  very  wet,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
my  observation  heartsease  (Fig.  55)  was  busily  worked  upon  by 
the  bees.  Probably  it  was  not  plentiful  enough  before.  At  any 
rate  it  has  now  become  a  honey-plant  of  importance.  In  some 
localities  heartsease  is,  I  believe,  the  chief  honey-plant  pro¬ 
ducing  amber  honey.  But  I  think  it  yields  very  light  honey 
here. 

CUCUMBERS. 

I  think  the  white-clover  crop,  for  some  reason,  is  more 
unreliable  than  it  was  years  ago.  Some  years  there  is  a  pro¬ 
fusion  of  clover  bloom,  but  there  seems  to  be  no  nectar  in  it. 
As  some  compensation,  I  think  there  is  more  fall  pasturage  than 
formerly.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  two  pickle-factories  are 
located  at  Marengo,  and  my  bees  have  the  run  of  one  or  two 
hundred  acres  of  cucumbers.  And  yet  I  must  confess  that  I  am 
not  at  all  sure  what  cucumber  honey  is.  Sometimes  the  honey 
stored  at  the  time  of  cucumber  bloom  is  objectionable  in  flavor, 
and  sometimes  the  flavor  is  fine.  Two  or  three  years  the  bees 
at  the  Hastings  apiary  stored  in  the  fall  some  fine  honey,  re¬ 
markable  for  whiteness,  and  I’ve  no  idea  what  it  was  gathered 
from  unless  it  was  heartsease.  On  the  whole  I  am  in  a  poor 
honey  region,  and  would  have  sought  a  better  one  long  ago  but 
for  ties  other  than  the  bees. 

ARTIFICIAL  PASTURAGE. 

I  have  made  some  effort  to  increase  the  pasturage  for  my 
bees.  Of  spider-plant  I  raised  only  a  few  plants.  It  seemed 
too  difficult  to  raise  to  make  me  care  to  experiment  with  it  on  a 
larger  scale.  Possibly  if  I  knew  better  how  to  manage  it,  the 
difficulty  might  disappear.  Or,  on  other  soil  it  might  be  less 
difficult  to  manage.  The  same  might  be  said  of  the  other  things 
I  have  tried.  My  soil  is  clay  loam,  and  hilly,  although  I  live  in 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


115 


a  prairie  State.  1  am  at  least  a  mile  distant  from  prairie  soil. 
I  had  an  acre  of  as  fine  figwort  as  one  would  care  to  see.  It 
died  root  and  branch  the  second  winter;  even  the  young  plants 
that  had  come  from  seed  the  previous  summer.  It  was  on  the 
lowest  ground  I  had,  very  rich,  and  much  like  prairie. 

When  the  boom  for  Chapman’s  honey-plant  ( Echinops 
spherocephalus)  was  on,  I  was  among  the  first  to  get  it,  and  I 
succeeded  in  having  a  large  patch.  Bees  were  on  it  in  large 
numbers,  but  close  observation  showed  that  a  great  proportion 


Fig.  39 — Hive-stand. 

of  them  were  loafing  as  if  something  about  the  plant  had  made 
them  drunk.  I  concluded  I  did  not  get  nectar  enough  from  it 
to  pay  for  the  use  of  the  land,  to  say  nothing  of  cultivation. 

One  year  I  raised  half  an  acre  of  sunflowers,  and  I  have 
tried  other  things,  but  given  them  up. 

APPLE-BLOOM. 

Quite  likely  if  a  second  crop  of  apple-bloom  came  a  month 
or  two  later  than  the  usual  time,  I  might  get  some  surplus  from 
that;  but  coming  so  early  I  think  there  are  hardly  bees  enough 


116 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


to  store  it.  Still,  the  bees  are  at  this  time  using  large  quantities 
of  honey  for  brood,  and  so  the  apple-bloom  is  of  very  great 
value.  Another  advantage  is  that  the  great  quantity  of  bloom 
has  somewhat  the  effect  of  prolonging  its  time,  for  the  latest 
blossoms,'  that  with  a  few  trees  would  amount  to  little  or  noth¬ 
ing,  are  enough  to  keep  the  bees  busy.  So  it  happens  that  often 
I  can  scarcely  recognize  any  interim  between  fruit-bloom  and 
clover.  :  A  few  items  from  a  memorandum  for  1882  may  be 
interesting. 

MEMORANDA  OF  1882. 

April  4. — Last  bees  taken  out  of  cellar. 

May  8.— Plum-bloom  out.  Bees  still  work  on  meal  and 
sugar  syrup. 

May  10. — Wild  plum,  dandelion,  cherry,  pear,  Siberian, 
Duchess  of  Oldenberg. 

May  31. — Saw  first  clover  blossom. 

June  5. — Apple  about  done. 

June  12.— -Commenced  giving  supers. 

June  13. — Clover  full  bloom — plentiful. 

June  20. — Locust  out. 

August  1. — Clover  failing. 

August  5. — Robber  bees  trouble. 

You  will  notice  that  the  earliest  apple-bloom  (Duchess  of 
Oldenberg)  commenced  May  10,  while  the  Janets  and  other  la-te 
bloomers  were  still  in  blossom  on  June  5,  several  days  after  the 
first  clover  was  seen,  making  about  four  weeks  of  apple-bloom. 
Possibly  this  was  unusual — certainly  the  clover  lasted  unusually 
long,  being  about  T1/^  weeks  from  the  time  the  bees  commenced 
working  on  it,  for  they  do  not  seem  to  commence  work  till  after 
the  blossoms  have  been  out  some  time. 

% 

TIME  FOR  GIVING  SUPERS. 

You  see  that  I  did  not  commence  putting  on  supers  till  12 
days  after  I  saw  the  first  clover-blossom,  and  if  I  had  had  only 
a  dozen  colonies,  I  might  have  waited  later,  but  with  a  large 
number  I  must  commence  in  time  so  that  all  shall  be  on  as  soon 
as  needed.  Usually  I  put  on  supers  as  nearly  as  convenient  to 
ten  days  after  seeing  the  very  first  white-clover  blossom.  A 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


117 


little  time  before  bees  commence  work  in  supers,  little  bits  of 
pure  white  wax  will  be  seen  stuck  on  the  old  comb  about  the 
upper  part,  yet  I  hardly  wait  for  this,  but  go  rather  by  the 
clover. 

Another  year  (1884),  I  saw  the  first  clover-blossom  on 
May  21,  apple  being  still  in  full  bloom ;  and  I  commenced  put¬ 
ting  on  supers  June  2.  One  year,  I  remember,  clover  failed  on 
July  4,  the  earliest  I  ever  remember. 

MEMORANDA  OF  1901. 

Turning  to  another  year,  the  year  1901,  I  give  a  few 
entries : 

March  17. — Bluebirds,  prairie  chickens,  robins,  larks. 

March  25. — Frogs. 

April  5. — Soft  maple. 

April  28. — Dandelion. 

May  1. — Hard  maple,  plum. 

May  2. — Cherry. 

May  5. — Apple. 

May  6. — Strawberry. 

May  23. — White  clover. 

June  20. — Sweet  clover. 

June  29. — Linden. 

WHITE  CLOVER  UNCERTAIN. 

That  year,  1901,  had  perhaps  the  finest  show  of  white- 
clover  bloom  ever  known,  but  it  was  a  dead  failure,  perhaps  on 
account  of  the  terrible  drouth,  although  sometimes  white  clover 
blossoms  bountifully  and  fails  to  yield  honey  when  nothing 
that  can  be  seen  in  the  way  of  weather  is  at  all  at  fault.  About 
the  middle  of  August  the  bees  began  storing,  perhaps  from 
cucumbers  and  sweet  clover,  and  gave  a  surplus  of  16  pounds  a 
colony.  It  would  have  been  better  to  have  had  it  all  stored  in 
brood-frames,  I  think. 

The  following  year,  1902,  was  still  more  exceptional,  .As 
already  told,  the  bees  would  have  starved  in  June  but  for  feed¬ 
ing,  yet  later  on  they  did  some  good  work,  some  colonies  yield¬ 
ing  as  much  as  72  sections.  The  bulk  of  this  was  stored  toward 
the  last  of  August  or  later. 


118 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Fig.  70  is  from  a  photo  taken  Oct.  1.  In  the  picture  the 
bee  appears  to  be  perfectly  still,  but  these  are  not  moving  pic¬ 
tures,  and  I  assure  you  that  that  bee  was  in  very  lively  motion 
when  taken. 


OVERSTOCKING. 

To  a  beekeeper  who  has  more  bees  than  he  thinks  advisable 
to  keep  in  the  home  apiary,  pasturage  and  overstocking  are 
subjects  of  intense  interest.  The  two  subjects  are  intimately 
connected.  They  are  subjects  so  elusive,  so  difficult  to  learn 
anything  about  very  positively,  that  if  I  could  well  help  myself 
I  think  1  should  dismiss  them  altogether  from  contemplation. 
But,  like  Banquo’s  ghost,  they  will  not  down.  I  must  decide, 
whether  I  will  or  not,  how  many  colonies  will  overstock  the 
home  field,  unless  I  make  the  idiotic  determination  to  keep  all 
at  home  with  the  almost  certain  result  of  obtaining  no  surplus. 
1  do  not  expect  ever  to  have  any  positive  knowledge  upon  the 
subject,  because  if  I  could  find  out  with  certainty  just  what 
number  of  colonies  a  given  area  would  support  in  one  year. 
I  have  no  kind  of  assurance  that  the  same  kind  of  year  will 
ever  occur  again.  So  I  act  upon  the  guess  that  in  my  locality 
it  is  never  wise  to  have  more  than  100  colonies  in  one  apiary, 
and  possibly  75  would  be  better. 

SURPLUS  ARRANGEMENTS. 

The  first  surplus  honey  I  obtained  worth  mentioning  was 
secured  in  boxes  holding  somewhere  from  6  to  10  pounds.  The 
boxes  had  glass  on  one  or  more  sides,  and  were  placed  on  the 
top  of  box  hives.  Then  for  a  year  or  more  my  surplus  was 
extracted  honey  obtained  with  the  old  Peabody  extractor  (Fig. 
2),  in  which  the  whole  affair,  can  and  all,  revolves. 

SECTIONS. 

Then  I  started  on  sections  of  the  four-piece  kind,  and  later 
used  one-piece.  I  have  used  the  4^4  x  4}4  x  1%  size  much  more 
than  any  other.  I  have  used  a  few  hundreds  of  the  tall  sections, 
but  my  market  does  not  seem  to  like  them  any  better,  if  as  well, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


119 


as  the  square  sections.  I  have  tried  4*4  square  sections  of 
several  widths,  1  15-16  inches  wide,  7  to  the  foot,  also  8,  9,  and 
10  to  the  foot.  I  have  made  some  trial  of  plain  sections,  but  for 
my  market  I  am  not  sure  that  there  is  advantage  enough  in  them 
to  make  me  change  from  the  two-beeway  sections. 

T  SUPERS. 

The  T  supers  I  use  are  12Vs  wide  inside,  just  right  for 
eight-frame  hives.  Just  why  I  adopted  this  size  I  do  not  know, 


Fig.  40 — Original  Miller  Feeder. 

for  at  that  time  I  was  using  10-frame  hives,  and  it  was  a  little 
awkward  to  use  a  super  so  much  narrower  than  the  hive.  But 
at  least  part  of  the  time  I  used  only  eight  frames  in  the  10- 
frame  hives. 


HOW  TO  MAKE  A  T  SUPER, 

So  many  have  asked  how  to  make  a  T  super  that  it  may  be 
well  to  give  directions  here.  It  is  a  plain  box  without  top  or 
bottom,  the  inside  width  being  the  same  as  that  of  the  hive,  and 
the  depth  %  inch  more  than  the  depth  of  the  sections  to  be 


120 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


used.  Mine  being  for  the  8-frame  dovetailed  hive,  and  for 
4 14  x  414  sections,  are  17%  inches  long,  inside  measure,  1 2% 
inches  wide,  and  4%  inches  deep.  If  they  were  all  to  be  made 
over  again,  J  think  1  might  prefer  to  have  them  %  inch  shorter. 
Unless  the  lumber  is  very  thoroughly  seasoned,  the  depth  should 
be  a  little  more  than  %  inch  more  than  the  depth  of  the  sections. 
To  support  the  sections,  three  T  tins  are  needed,  and  there  must 
be  something  to  support  these  T  tins,  3  supports  on  each  side. 
With  your  super  lying  before  you  upside  down,  make  a  mark  cn 
the  edge  of  each  side  at  the  middle.  Now,  half  way  between 
this  mark  and  each  inside  end  of  the  super,  make  another  mark. 
Those  3  marks  on  each  side  will  tell  you  where  the  middle  of 
each  support  is  to  be.  Most  of  the  supers  have  for  these  6 
supports  pieces  of  sheet  iron  1%  x  1  inch.  Lay  the  piece  flat  on 
the  edge  of  the  side  of  the  super,  and  fasten  it  by  2  nails  about 
%  inch  from  the  inside  edge  of  the  side  of  the  super.  As  the 
wall  of  the  super  is  %  thick,  that  will  allow  the  support  to 
project  inside  about  %  inch,  and  the  support  is  of  course  1  inch 
wide.  Some  of  the  latest  of  my  supers,  instead  of  these  squares 
of  sheet  iron,  have  staples  as  supports.  A  staple  is  driven  in 
about  %  inch  from  the  inside  edge,  then  bent  over  and  ham¬ 
mered  down  flat.  The  staples  are  an  inch  wide.  To  support  the 
sections  at  each  end  of  the  super  a  strip  of  tin  is  nailed  on.  It 
is  13%  s  %,  and  is  nailed  on  so  as  to  project  inward  %  inch. 
The  12-inch  T  tins  are  bought  ready  made.  The  super  is  hardly 
long  enough  to  close  the  top  of  the  hive.  I  like  this.  When  the 
harvest  is  booming  I  let  the  super  be  shoved  forward  enough  so 
there  will  be  at  the  back  end  a  space  of  %  inch  for  ventilation, 
which  is  an  important  factor  to  prevent  swarming.  But  the 
sections  near  this  ventilation  will  not  be  finished  so  rapidly,  and 
at  the  beginning  and  toward  the  close  of  the  season  a  cleat  is 
nailed  on  the  super  to  close  fully  the  opening.  Yet  I  remember 
at  least  one  year  when  it  worked  the  other  way,  and  the  sections 
were  sealed  sooner  at  the  open  end  than  at  the  closed  end.  Per¬ 
haps  it.  was  because  the  weather  was  very  hot. 

The  separators  used  are  plain  wood,  and  are  generally 
bought  new  every  year,  for  it  is  about  as  cheap  to  buy  new  as 
to  clean  the  old,  and  more  satisfactory.  The  usual  follower  fills 
put  the  super,  wedged  in  with  a  super  spring. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


121 


TOP  VENTILATION  OF  SUPERS. 

In  working  for  extracted  honey  it  is  an  easy  thing  to  give 
a  good  deal  of  ventilation  to  each  story,  and  it  works  well  as  a 
great  hindrance  to  swarming.  It  makes  no  great  difference  if 
the  bees  should  not  seal  the  combs  so  well  at  the  openings  for 
ventilation.  For  years  I  dreamed  of  trying  to  have  some  way 
of  having  the  same  advantage  for  comb  honey.  To  be  sure,  it 
had  worked  well  enough,  at  least  part  of  the  time,  to  have  a 
space  for  ventilation  between  hive  and  super  at  the  back  end. 
But  to  have  ventilation  between  each  two  supers  could  hardly 
fail  to  make  bad  work  about  sealing  where  the  openings  came. 
If  we  could  only  have  ventilation  at  the  center,  where  sealing 
is  first  done,  instead  of  at  the  ends  where  the  last  sealing  is 
done  f  Weil,  why  not  at  the  center?  In  1912  I  tried  it,  making 
a  ventilation-cover.  Here  is  the  bill  of  material  for  it :  2  piects 
20  x  4%  x  % ;  2  pieces  4  x  4%  x  % ;  2  pieces  13%  x  %  x  % ;  2 
pieces  7  x  %  x  %. 

At  each  side  will  be  one  of  the  20-inch  pieces,  and  between 
them,  one  at  each  end,  the  4-inch  pieces.  These  will  be  nailed 
upon  the  13%  pieces,  one  at  each  end,  and  the  7-inch  pieces  will 
come  at  the  inside  ends  of  the  4-inch  pieces.  We  now  have  a 
cover  with  a  central  opening  12  x  4%  inches.  This  is  laid  upon 
the  super  with  the  %-inch  square  pieces  uppermost,  and  on  this 
is  placed  the  usual  cover.  If  desired,  this  ventilation-cover  can 
be  lightly  nailed  to  the  hive-cover,  to  be  removed  at  the  close  of 
the  super-season.  These  ventilation-covers  have  not  been  thor¬ 
oughly  tested,  but  give  promise  of  being  an  acquisition. 

SUPER  SPRINGS. 

Until  the  introduction  of  super  springs,  my  supers  of 
sections  were  wedged  together  by  crowding  in  behind  the  fol¬ 
lower  a  straight  stick  about  as  long  as  the  inside  length  of  the 
super,  and  %  x  %  inch.  I  find  the  super  springs  a  very  great 
improvement.  When  the  sections  are  filled  into  the  super,  the 
corners,  which  have  been  wet,  are  not  yet  entirely  dry,  and  no 
matter  how  tightly  wedged,  as  they  dry  out  there  will  be  a 
shrinkage  of  the  contents  of  the  super,  so  that  in  some  cases  the 
wedge-stick  will  drop  down.  The  metal  springs  will  adjust 


122 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


themselves  to  this,  and  continue  to  press  the  sections  together, 
although  with  less  force,  after  all  have  entirely  dried  out.  It  is 
easier  to  put  the  springs  in,  and  very  much  easier  to  take  them 
out.  In  a  word,  the  sticks  are  not  always  a  fit,  and  the  springs 
are. 

Another  thing  of  perhaps  still  more  importance  is  that  the 
stick,  being  crowded  in  diagonally,  forms  a  pocket  in  which  the 
bees  are  apt  to  congregate  when  one  is  trying  to  get  them  out 
of  the  super,  and  it  is  very  hard  to  dislodge  them  from  this 
pocket.  The  springs  form  no  such  pocket. 

I  am  not  sure  whether  it  is  better  to  use  one  spring  or  two 
to  a  super. 

The  T  tins  are  not  fastened  to  the  super,  but  loose  (Fig.  5). 

SECTIONS  READY  IN  ADVANCE. 

The  work  of  getting  sections  and  supers  ready  for  use  has 
been  all  done  long  before  the  time  for  putting  on,  and  some¬ 
thing  will  be  said  about  how  that  work  is  done. 

At  the  time  the  supers  are  needed  for  putting  on  the  hives, 
they  are  all  nicely  piled  up  in  the  store-room  of  the  shop,  ready 
to  carry  out. 

Years  ago  I  thought  I  was  doing  pretty  well  if  I  had  ready 
in  advance  as  much  as  4  supers  filled  with  sections  for  each 
colony.  Certainly,  if  I  could  average,  one  year  with  another, 
96  finished  sections  per  colony,  it  would  not  be  such  a  bad  thing. 
But  if  preparation  is  to  be  made  in  advance,  it  must  be  not  for 
an  average  crop,  but  for  the  largest  crop  possible.  Allowance 
must  be  made,  too,  for  unfinished  sections  that  will  be  taken  off 
at  the  close  of  the  season,  and  also  for  a  good  many  that  the 
bees  have  not  begun  on  at  all.  Being  caught  short  of  sections 
and  having  to  get  them  ready  right  in  the  rush  of  harvest  made 
me  change  my  mind  as  to  the  number  that  should  be  ready  in 
advance.  Several  times  I  had  to  change  my  mind,  each  time 
setting  the  mark  a  little  higher,  for  as  the  years  went  by  the  big 
yields  of  big  years  became  bigger.  One  reason  for  this  was  no 
doubt  the  improvement  in  pasturage.  Another  was  the  improve¬ 
ment  in  bees  by  continuous  breeding  from  the  best  storers. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


123 


AN  EMPHATIC  SEASON. 

The  year  1903  was  one  of  the  years  that  emphasized  the 
need  of  having  a  big  stock  of  sections  ready  in  advance.  It 
emphasized  also  the  variableness  of  the  seasons.  Another  item 
of  no  small  importance  was  the  harvests  of  the  present  and 
future  as  compared  with  the  past.  Some  have  said  that,  with 
the  advance  of  civilization,  the  plow  and  the  ax  have  cut  off  our 
resources  for  nectar,  and  we  are  no  more  to  expect  such  crops 
as  we  have  had  in  the  past.  We  shall  see  where  the  year  1903 
put  the  emphasis  in  that  matter. 

A  furnace  put  in  the  cellar  somewhat  late  the  previous 
winter  had  made  bad  work  with  the  wintering,  so  that  by  the 
12th  of  May,  1903,  I  could  muster  only  124  colonies  all  told,  and 
some  of  them  were  very  weak  indeed.  The  dense  carpet  of  white 
clover  promised  well,  provided  the  weather  was  good  (as  it 
turned  out  there  was  too  much  cold  and  wet  for  best  expecta¬ 
tions),  but  enough  supers  were  piled  ready-filled  to  satisfy  any 
reasonable  demands.  The  cool  wet  weather  hindered  storing  no 
little,  but  was  no  doubt  an  advantage  in  the  long  run,  for  it 
kept  the  clover  growing  and  blowing,  and  I  don’t  know  really 
when  it  did  cease  to  yield. 

The  season  was  remarkably  early,  so  that  second  stories 
were  given  some  colonies  by  May  13,  and  May  25  we  began 
giving  supers.  Three  days  later  there  were  evidences  of  abun¬ 
dant  storing.  July  1  we  began  taking  off  supers,  and  from  that 
on  had  a  busy  time  both  taking  off  and  putting  on — no  trouble 
with  robber-bees;  supers  could  be  set  on  hives  and  left  till  the 
bees  all  ran  out  of  their  own  accord,  standing  all  day  if  nec¬ 
essary.  This  up  to  July  18,  after  which  time  the  bees  would 
have  spells  of  letting  up,  only  to  go  at  it  afresh  after  the  pause. 

Finally  it  began  to  dawn  on  us  that  our  stock  of  filled 
supers  was  running  dangerously  low.  More  sections  were 
ordered.  Getting  them  ready  as  needed  was  added  to  our  already 
heavy  task.  We  were  kept  on  the  jump  till  near  the  middle  of 
August.  Then  came  the  National  convention  at  Los  Angeles. 
Some  12,000  finished  sections  were  piled  up  in  the  house,  but  a 
lot  more  were  on  the  hives,  and  I  hesitated  about  going.  But 
my  assistant  insisted  I  should  go ;  the  bees  had  let  up  on  storing, 


124 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


and  I  thought  it  would  do  no  great  harm  to  leave  all  sections  on 
till  I  got  back,  so  I  left  August  12,  getting  back  the  28th. 

Scarcely  had  1  got  out  of  sight  when  the  bees  made  a  fresh 
start  as  fierce  as  ever,  and  gave  Miss  Wilson  the  busy  time  of 
her  life.  Up  at  4  o’clock  in  the  morning  to  get  sections  ready, 
then  to  one  of  the  apiaries  to  take  off  and  put  on  supers,  with 
no  let-up  in  the  work  of  going  through  colonies  to  keep  down 
swarming.  Yes,  indeed,  there  was  swarming  galore,  and  had 
been  all  through  the  season.  It  is  generally  understood  that 
when  bees  are  busily  engaged  at  storing  they  give  up  all  thoughts 


Fig.  41 — Miller  Feeder  Dissected. 

of  swarming.  Not  in  1903.  I’m  not  sure  I  ever  knew  so  bad  a 
season  for  swarming.  We  fought  our  best  to  prevent  it,  but 
every  now  and  then  the  bees  would  get  the  start  of  us. 

Some  6000  finished  sections  were  taken  off  during  my  16 
days’  absence,  and  on  my  return  I  found  everything  about  the 
work  kept  up  in  as  good  shape  as  if  I  had  been  at  home.  And 
Miss  Wilson  was  still  alive. 

We  didn’t  get  the  last  sections  off  the  hives  till  well  along 
in  September,  and  the  final  footing  up  was  not  conducive  to 
despondency.  From  124  colonies,  spring  count,  we  had  18,150 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


125 


pounds  of  comb  honey  (about  20,000  finished  sections),  increas¬ 
ing  to  284  colonies ;  or  an  average  of  more  than  146  pounds  per 
colony,  with  129  per  cent  increase.  As  the  storing  was  mainly 
by  one  set  of  colonies  and  the  increase  by  another,  it  would 
perhaps  be  fairer  to  say  that  100  colonies  averaged  18iy2 
pounds  per  colony  with  no  increase,  and  that  each  of  the  re¬ 
maining  colonies  was  increased  to  7  2-3  colonies  with  no  sur¬ 
plus.  The  best  colony  gave  300  sections,  and  several  colonies 
were  close  on  its  heels. 

NUMBER  OF  SECTIONS  NEEDED  PER  COLONY. 

Clearly,  in  such  a  season  as  1903  it  would  not  do  to  have 
ready  only  4  supers  per  colony,  and  1  did  some  figuring  to 
determine  what  would  be  the  right  number.  That  average  of 
146  pounds  per  colony  was  equivalent  to  about  160  sections  per 
colony.  With  24  sections  to  the  super,  those  160  sections  would 
lack  8  sections  of  filling  7  supers.  There  were  probably  more 
than  8  unfinished  and  empty  sections  per  colony,  so  it  will  be 
readily  seen  that  for  another  year  like  1903  it  will  be  a  conser¬ 
vative  estimate  to  count  on  having  7  supers  of  sections  ready  in 
advance  for  each  colony.  Such  a  year  may  never  come  again, 
but  then  again  it  may.  So  remembering  the  old  saw,  “  It  is 
better  to  be  ready  and  not  go  than  to  go  and  not  be  ready,”  it 
will  be  the  wise  thing  to  have  7  supers  filled  in  advance  eadi 
year.  If  they  are  not  needed  they  will  keep  over  all  right,  even 
if  kept  so  long  as  4  or  5  years. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  well,  as  a  general  rule,  to  have  ready  as 
many  as  will  be  needed  in  your  best  year,  and  then  an  extra 
super  besides  for  each  colony.  That,  of  course,  might  make  it 
more,  or  it  might  make  it  less,  than  7  supers  to  the  colony. 

A  PHENOMENAL  SEASON. 

Just  ten  years  later  came  the  season  of  1913,  again  upsetting 
all  figures.  The  season  opened  with  83  colonies;  11  of  these 
were  devoted  to  extracting-combs,  and  72  to  sections,  and  these 
72  had  no  help  from  the  other  11.  There  was  abundance  of 
fruit-bloom  and  dandelion,  and  colonies  became  strong.  May  - 
27  appeared  the  first  bloom  on  alsike  and  white  clover,  just  as 


126 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


fruit-bloom  closed.  Two  days  later  we  began  putting  on  supers, 
and  the  bees  were  not  long  about  occupying  them.  There  was 
a  steady  flow  from  clover  for  at  least  11  weeks,  and  I  don’t 
know  how  much  longer,  for  about  August  18  sweet  clover  and 
heartsease  began  to  mix  in,  continuing  till  Sept.  20,  supers 
being  taken  off  Sept.  22.  Thus  there  was  a  continuous  flow, 
with  scarcely  a  break,  for  about  16  weeks.  Timely  rains  occur¬ 
red  to  keep  the  bloom  at  its  best,  but  they  generally  occurred  in 
the  night,  allowing  the  bees  to  be  on  their  job  the  next  morning. 

After  the  flow  was  well  under  way,  with  every  prospect  of 
continuance,  Miss  Wilson  began  to  urge  that  more  sections 
should  be  ordered.  I  laughed  at  her.  I  said,  “  There  is  no  need 
of  more  than  7  supers  per  colony,  spring  count.  We  had  at 
the  beginning  of  the  season  660  supers  ready  to  put  on  the 
hives.  That’s  a  little  more  than  9  supers  per  colony.  We  never 
have  needed  anything  like  that  number  of  supers,  and  never 
will.  No  matter  how  hard  the  bees  are  working  now,  there  are 
always  setbacks,  as  you  will  see,  and  at  the  close  of  the  season 
we  will  have  empty  supers  to  burn.”  But  with  Scotch  persis¬ 
tence  she  kept  insisting,  and  finally  I  ordered  more  sections, 
with  no  expectation  they  would  be  needed.  It  would,  however, 
satisfy  Miss  Wilson,  and  the  sections  would  keep  for  another 
season.  But  the  expected  setbacks  did  not  come,  and  the  big 
flow  kept  right  on  flowing  until  the  660  supers  had  been  put  on 
the  hives,  and  we  began  to  put  on  some  of  the  fresh  lot.  Then 
Miss  Wilson  had  the  laugh  on  me.  I  bore  it  calmly. 

The  increase  from  these  72  colonies  was  only  one  colony, 
the  other  11  colonies  furnishing  all  needed  increase. 

There  was  no  stinting  of  surplus-room.  As  fast  as  needed 
an  empty  super  was  added  below,  and  as  a  sort  of  safety-valve 
an  empty  super  was  kept  on  top.  Throughout  the  whole  of 
July  there  were  on  the  hives  an  average  of  5  supers  each.  A 
few  colonies  had  as  many  as  7  or  8  supers  each  at  one  time. 

June  24  we  began  taking  off  supers.  Each  colony  had 
careful  credit  for  all  honey  taken  from  it.  Not  only  were  full 
sections  counted,  but  sections  partly  filled  were  estimated  and 
credited.  Footed  up  at  the  close  of  the  season,  there  were 
19,186  sections,  or  an  average  of  266.47  sections  per  colony,  for 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


127 


the  72  colonies  spring  count.  If  reduced  to  pounds  it  would 
probably  be  about  244  pounds  per  colony. 

The  number  of  finished,  marketable  sections  was  17,684,  or 
245.6  sections  per  colony,  spring  count.  Reduced  to  pounds, 
that  would  be  something  like  225  pounds  per  colony. 

Returning  to  the  total  credits,  the  poorest  colony  was 
credited  with  68  sections,  the  best  with  402.  Only  10  colonies 
gave  less  than  200  sections  each.  The  best  6  colonies  gave 
respectively  383,  384,  384,  390,  395,  402. 

Whether  you  count  the  total  266.47  sections  per  colony,  or 
only  the  245.6  finished  sections,  I  think  that  1913  crop  stands  as 
the  world’s  record  for  the  best  yield  of  comb  honey  for  as  many 
as  72  colonies.  It  could  hardly  be  expected  that  I  should  not  feel 
a  little  proud  of  holding  such  a  record ;  but  I  am  not  proud  that 
in  such  a  season  there  should  be  as  many  as  10  colonies  giving 
less  than  200  sections  each.  I  can  take  no  pride  in  the  season ; 
that’s  one  of  God’s  good  gifts;  I  can  only  take  pride  in  good 
management  and  careful  breeding;  and  for  those  am  I  not 
equally  indebted  to  the  same  God? 

.  ‘ 

SHOP  FOR  BEE-WORK. 

The  shop  (Fig.  71)  in  which  the  filled  supers  are  stored  is 
a  plain  wooden  building  18  x  24,  two-story,  with  a  bee-cellar 
under  it.  The  bee-cellar,  however,  has  not  been  used  for  some 
years.  The  upper  story  is  used  for  storing  empty  supers,  hives, 
and  other  articles  not  very  heavy,  or  such  as  are  not  often 
needed.  The  outside  door  opens  into  the  middle  of  the  east  side 
of  the  house  into  a  store-room;  immediately  in  front  of  you  as 
you  enter  are  the  stairs  leading  to  the  upper  story,  and  at  your 
right  a  door  opens  into  the  work-room.  In  this  work-room  is  a 
coal-stove,  and  the  room,  being  ceiled  up,  is  comfortable  in  the 
severest  weather. 


ROOM  FOR  QUEEN. 

Up  to  the  time  of  putting  on  supers  the  queen  has  had 
unlimited  room  with  the  design  of  encouraging  the  rearing  of 
as  much  brood  as  possible.  When  the  harvest  begins,  she  may 
have  as  much  as  6,  9,  11,  even  up  to  14  frames  well  occupied 


128 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


with  brood  and  eggs.  A  good  deal  depends  on  the  season,  as 
well  as  the  queen.  At  one  time  I  thought  I  ought  to  be  able  to 
make  a  success  of  continuing  the  two  stories  of  brood-frames 
throughout  the  harvest.  It  seems  that  when  a  colony  is  so 
strong  as  to  have  12  or  14  frames  of  brood,  there  ought  to  be  no 
difficulty  in  having  good  super-work  done  by  putting  the  supers 
above  the  two  stories;  and  one  season  of  failure  the  only  super 
I  had  filled  was  on  a  two-story  colony.  But  I  was  never  able 
to  have  that  thing  repeated,  and  whatever  the  reason  may  be, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  make  a  success  of  putting  comb-honey 
supers  on  two:story  colonies.  Even  if  the  two-story  plan  would 
work  all  right  it  involves  much  extra  lifting. 

REDUCING  TO  ONE  STORY. 

So  before  putting  on  supers  the  colonies  are  reduced  to  one 
story  each.  If  a  colony  has  9,  10,  or  more  frames  of  brood,  all 
but  8  are  taken  away.  The  surplus  frames  of  brood  are  given 
to  those  which  have  less  than  8  frames  of  brood  each,  the  effort 
being  to  have  in  each  hive  8  frames  well  filled  with  brood  when 
a  super  is  given.  The  season  may  be  such  that  it  will  not  be 
possible  to  have  as  many  as  8  brood  in  each  hive.  A  colony 
strong  enough  to  have  6  frames  well  filled  with  brood  is  likely 
to  be  in  condition  for  good  super-work,  but  the  work  will  be 
better  if  it  has  7  or  8.  On  the  other  hand  the  season  and  the 
early  condition  of  the  bees  may  be  such  that  when  each  colony 
is  brought  up  or  down  to  its  8  frames  of  brood,  a  considerable 
surplus  of  brood  may  be  left. 

DISPOSAL  OF  EXTRA  BROOD. 

Circumstances  will  decide  what  shall  be  done  with  this 
extra  brood.  It  may  be  needed  for  building  up  nuclei,  or  for 
new  colonies.  It  may  be  piled  up  temporarily  in  piles  of  three, 
four,  or  five  stories  each,  to  be  used  later  in  any  manner  desired. 
It  does  not  take  three  times  as  many  bees  to  care  for  the  brood 
in  three  stories  as  it  does  to  care  for  the  brood  in  one  story. 
If  two  or  three  stories  of  brood  with  adhering  bees  are  piled  up, 
in  two  or  three  weeks  there  will  be  enough  bees  there  so  that 
when  reduced  to  one  story  it  will  be  all  right  for  super-work. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


129 


Or  it  may  be  left  just  as  it  is,  and  allowed  to  store  in  combs 
for  the  next  spring’s  use,  or  for  extracting. 

BURR-COMBS. 

At  the  time  of  putting  on  supers,  it  is  desirable  that  then 
shall  be  as  little  inducement  as  possible  toward  the  building  of 
burr-combs  between  top-bars  and  supers.  A  very  strong  induce¬ 
ment  of  that  kind  consists  in  the  presence  of  any  beginnings  of 
such  combs  already  there.  Formerly  I  had  a  space  of  %  of  an 
inch  over  top-bars,  and  if  a  super  of  sections  were  placed 
directly  on  the  hive,  burr-combs  in  abundance  would  be  built. 


Fig.  42 — Hive-dummy. 


HEDDON  HONEY-BOARD. 

In  such  conditions  the  Heddon  slat  honey-board  (Fig.  6) 
was  a  boon.  Between  the  top-bars  and  the  honey-board  was  a 
mass  of  burr-combs  tilled  with  honey,  making  a  disagreeably 
dauby,  sticky,  dripping  mess  when  the  honey-board  was  re¬ 
moved;  but  the  space  between  the  honey-board  and  the  bottoms 
of  the  sections  was  left  beautifully  free  from  burr-combs,  so 
the  section  bottoms  were  left  clean.  This  while  everything  was 


130 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


new;  for  if  lioney-boards  were  put  on  a  second  year  without 
cleaning  there  would  be  the  beginnings  of  burr-combs  between 
honey-board  and  sections,  or  more  than  the  beginnings  if  the 
honey-boards  had  gone  more  than  one  year  without  cleaning. 
So  at  some  time  before  putting  on  the  honey-boards  they  were 
carefully  cleaned.  But  cleaning  the  honey-boards  was  not 
enough.  The  tops  of  the  frames  had  to  be  cleaned  as  well,  and 
this  cleaning  was  done  with  a  common  garden-hoe,  an  assistant 
smoking  the  bees  out  of  the  way  while  the  top-bars  were  hoed. 

CORRECT  BEE-SPACE. 

It  was  a  great  step  in  advance  when  we  learned  that  instead 
of  a  space  of  %  of  an  inch  there  should  be  only  ^4  inch,  or 
perhaps  a  shade  less.  In  other  words  we  learned  that  a  bee- 
space,  or  that  space  in  which  bees  were  least  inclined  to  put 
either  comb  or  propolis,  was  a  scant  quarter  of  an  inch.  With 
a  correct  bee-space  between  top-bars  and  sections,  we  can  dis¬ 
pense  entirely  with  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  honey-board. 
There  will  be  a  little  trouble  with  the  building  of  bits  of  comb 
under  the  sections,  but  not  enough  to  make  it  worth  while  to  use 
a  honey-board.  But  that  trouble  will  be  greatly  aggravated  if 
there  be  any  beginnings  of  burr-combs  on  the  tops  of  the  frames 
when  supers  are  given.  So  the  tops  must  be  cleaned  off  wher¬ 
ever  there  is  anything  to  clean  off  before  the  supers  are  put  on 
the  hives. 


THICK  TOP-BARS. 

Another  thing  that  may  help  to  keep  down  burr-combs  is 
the  thickness  and  width  of  top-bars.  My  top-bars  are  %  thick 
and  lYs  wide,  leaving  a  space  of  ^  inch  between  them.  There 
are  more  burr-combs  than  I  like  built  between  them,  and  I  have 
wondered  whether  any  other  space  would  be  better.  If  the  sides 
as  well  as  the  tops  of  the  top-bars  were  cleaned  off  at  the  time 
of  giving  supers,  it  would  help  to  keep  the  bottoms  of  sections 
clean,  but  I  doubt  its  paying. 

THICK  TOP-BARS  FOR  WHITE  SECTIONS. 

Even  if  the  %  thickness  of  top-bar  were  of  no  other 
advantage,  I  should  want  it  for  the  sake  of  keeping  the  cap- 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


131 


pings  of  the  sections  white.  At  one  time  I  had  wide  frames  of 
sections  facing  brood-frames  (the  brood-frames  were  used  to 
bait  the  bees  up  into  the  supers),  and  if  the  brood-frames  were 
left  there  till  the  sections  were  sealed,  the  sealing  would  be 
almost  if  not  quite  as  dark  as  the  sealing  of  brood-combs.  The 
bees  seem  to  carry  bits  of  the  old,  black  brood-combs  to  use  in 
capping  the  sections.  So  the  thick  top-bar  increasing  the  dis¬ 
tance  of  the  sections  from  the  brood-combs  helps  to  keep  the 
former  whiter. 


NO  EXCLUDER  UNDER  SECTIONS. 

u  Before  putting  on  the  super,  would  you  advise  me  to  put 
a  queen-excluder  (Fig.  56)  over  the  brood-chamber ?”  It  would 
increase  the  space  between  the  brood-combs  and  the  sections, 
and  in  that  way  would  be  a  further  help  toward  prevention  of 
dark  cappings  on  the  sections,  and  it  would  make  a  sure  thing 
as  to  preventing  burr-combs  on  the  bottoms  of  the  sections. 
But  I  don’t  believe  there  would  be  enough  advantage  in  both 
ways  to  pay  for  the  excluders. 

I  think  I  hear  you  say,  “  But  wouldn’t  it  pay  to  use  exclud¬ 
ers  for  the  sake  of  keeping  the  queen  out  of  the  supers'?”  I 
may  reply  that  the  queen  so  seldom  goes  up  into  a  super  that 
not  one  section  in  a  hundred,  sometimes  not  more  than  one  in  a 
thousand,  will  be  found  troubled  with  brood.  So  on  the  whole 
I  hardly  think  that  all  the  advantages  to  be  gained  from  using 
excluders  would  pay  for  the  time  and  trouble  of  using  them. 
I  need  not  consider  so  very  much  the  cost  of  them,  for  I  have  a 
lot  on  hand  lying  idle.  At  one  time  I  thought  I  had  a  plan  for 
prevention  of  swarming  by  the  use  of  excluders,  and  was  so 
sanguine  about  it  that  I  got  150  of  them.  I  think  a  great  deal 
of  queen-excluders,  and  wouldn’t  like  to  do  without  them,  but 
I  did  not  need  150  of  them,  for  my  excluder-swarm-prevention 
plan  did  not  turn  out  to  be  a  howling  success. 

EXPERIMENTING  ON  TOO  LARGE  A  SCALE. 

Allow  me  to  digress  long  enough  to  confess  that  one  of  my 
weaknesses  is  being  a  little  too  sanguine  about  new  plans  while 
they  are  yet  in  the  raw,  and  so  experimenting  on  too  large  a 
scale.  More  than  one  crop  of  honey  has  been  lessened  by  means 


132 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


of  some  foolish  project  that  T  thought  might  increase  the  crop. 
But  I  haven’t  done  as  badly  as  I  might  have  done,  for  my  good 
wife  has  acted  somewhat  as  a  balance  wheel,  advising  me  to 
“  go  slow  ”  and  not  experiment  on  too  large  a  scale,  and  she  has 
always  been  abetted  by  her  sister,  who  is  perhaps  over-conser¬ 
vative.  I  could  have  tested  my  plan  with  15  excluders  just  as 
well  as  with  ten  times  that  number,  but  I  knew  the  plan  would 
work,  and  I  couldn’t  wait!  I  think  I  didn’t  consult  mv  wife 


Fig.  43 — C rock- and- plate  Feeder. 

about  ordering  the  150  excluders.  As  I  grow  older  I  may  learn 
caution,  and  experiment  on  a  smaller  scale,  but  too  much  should 
not  be  expected  of  me. 

PLEASURE  OF  EXPERIMENTING. 

As  an  offset  to  the  mischief  done  by  experimenting  on  too 
large  a  scale,  I  may  say  that  one  of  my  keenest  enjoyments  is 
the  working  out  of  problems  connected  with  beekeeping.  There 
is  never  a  time,  summer  or  winter,  when  I  am  not  cooking  one 
or  more  schemes,  plans  or  projects  connected  with  the  business. 
No  doubt  more  money  could  be  made  at  beekeeping  if  every- 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


133 


thing  in  the  business  were  fully  settled  and  we  knew  beforehand 
just  exactly  the  right  step  to  take  in  any  given  case,  but  there 
wouldn’t  be  nearly  the  fun  in  it. 

BROOD  AND  POLLEN  IN  SECTIONS. 

It  may  be  asked  why  it  is  that  I  have  so  little  trouble  with 
queens  laying  in  sections,  while  some  others  are  much  troubled 
in  that  way.  Possibly  the  thickness  of  top-bars  may  have  some¬ 
thing  to  do  with  it,  but  very  likely  it  may  be  that  the  amount 
of  foundation  in  sections  has  a  bearing  on  the  case.  Some  use 
small  starters  in  sections,  while  my  sections  are  tilled  as  full  as 
possible  with  foundation.  When  drone-comb  is  absent  from  the 
'  brood-nest,  there  seems  such  a  desperate  desire  for  drone-brood 
that  I  have  known  the  queen  to  leave  the  broocl-nest  and  fill  with 
eggs  a  patch  of  drone-comb  two  or  three  frames  distant  from 
the  brood-nest.  On  the  same  principle  she  would  go  up  into 
the  sections  if  drone-comb  were  there,  and  nearly  always  when 
I  find  brood  in  the  sections  it  is  drone-brood.  With  small  start¬ 
ers  in  sections  there  is  plenty  of  chance  for  building  drone- 
comb,  but  when  the  sections  are  full  of  worker  foundation  there 
is  no  chance  for  it,  hence  no  special  temptation  for  the  queen  to 
go  above  unless  very  much  crowded  for  room. 

Of  course,  when  brood  enters  the  sections,  pollen  is  likely 
to  follow.  Perhaps  a  more  common  cause  of  pollen  in  sections 
is  the  shallowness  of  brood-frames.  Against  this,  an  excluder 
is  powerless  to  help.  I  had  a  little  experience  with  frames 
shallower  than  the  Langstroth,  and  had  more  pollen  over  one 
hive  with  the  shallower  frames  than  over  fifty  of  the  others. 

PREPARING  SUPERS  OF  SECTIONS. 

This  work  is  done  in  the  winter,  or  at  least  so  early  in 
spring  that  it  will  not  interfere  with  other  work,  but  as  an 
understanding  of  it  may  help  just  a  little  toward  understanding 
some  of  the  summer  work,  I  will  talk  about  it  here. 

CLEANING  SUPERS  AND  T  TINS. 

The  propolis  is  scraped  from  the  supers  by  means  of  the 
hatchet  already  mentioned.  Cleaning  T  tins  is  another  matter. 


134 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


The  plan  used  is  the  invention  of  my  assistant,  and  I  think  I 
cannot  do  better  than  to  let  her  tell  about  it  by  copying  the 
following  article  which  she  wrote  for  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture : 

“  When  we  commenced  work  in  the  shop,  the  first  super  I 
rilled  with  the  nice  clean  sections,  I  looked  at  the  T  tins  all 
covered  with  propolis  and  thought  to  myself,  1  If  we  are  to  have 
sections  unstained  by  propolis  it  will  never  do  to.  put  them  on 
these  dirty  T  tins.  But,  oh  dear !  it  will  be  an  endless  task  to 


Fig.  44 — Watering-crock. 


scrape  them  all.  I  can  never  do  it.’  Just  then  a  happy  thought 
struck  me.  Why  not  boil  the  propolis  off?  Sure  enough,  why 
not? 

“  I  repaired  to  the  kitchen,  placed  the  wash-boiler  on  the 
stove  (one  we  use  for  such  work),  filled  it  with  water  and  T 
tins,  then  went  back  to  the  shop  to  work,  and  left  them  to  boil 
at  their  own  sweet  will,  delighted  to  think  I  had  such  an  inspir¬ 
ation.  In  about  an  hour  I  went  back  to  the  kitchen  to  see  how 
my  T  tins  were  progressing.  I  fully  expected  to  see  them  all 
nice  and  clean,  and  was  most  bitterly  disappointed  to  find  that 
they  looked  even  worse  than  they  did  when  I  put  them  in,  as  the 
propolis  was  more  evenly  distributed  all  over  them. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


135 


“  I  next  tried  scrubbing  them  with  a  broom  in  the  boiling 
water,  but  it  would  not  work.  1  meditated  awhile,  then  con¬ 
cluded  I  would  try  concentrated  lye,  provided  Dr.  Miller  did 
not  object.  I  did  not  know  what  effect  the  lye  would  have  on 
the  tins.  He  said  I  might  try  it.  I  put  the  boiler  back  on  the 
stove  to  try  once  more.  I  did  not  feel  quite  so  sanguine  as  I 
poured  in  part  of  a  can  of  concentrated  lye. 

“  I  did  not  leave  it  this  time,  but  anxiously  watched  to  see 
what  effect  it  would  have.  It  brought  it  off  pretty  well,  but  was 
not  quite  strong  enough.  I  put  in  the  rest  of  the  can  of  lye, 
and,  Eureka !  the  propolis  disappeared  as  if  by  magic.  I  stirred 
the  tins  with  the  poker  to  insure  the  lye  reaching  all  parts  of 
them;  then  with  the  tongs  I  lifted  them  into  a  tub  and  rinsed 
them  off  with  cold  water  and  set  them  up  in  the  sun  to  drain, 
as  bright  and  clean  as  when  they  came  from  the  tinner’s. 

“  I  filled  up  the  boiler  with  T  tins  again,  and  so  on,  until 
the  strength  of  the  lye  was  all  used  up,  when  I  turned  it  out, 
filled  up  the  boiler  afresh,  and  began  all  over  again,  continuing 
until  they  were  all  done.  I  used  a  can  of  lye  to  a  boiler  of 
water. 

“  Every  time  I  fill  up  a  super  with  the  nice  clean  T  tins  I 
feel  more  than  paid  for  the  work  it  took  to  make  them  so.  I 
am  pretty  sure  that  washing-fluid  would  clean  them  almost  if 
not  quite  as  well  as  the  concentrated  lye,  providing  it  were  used 
strong  enough,  although  I  have  never  tried  it.  However,  I 
think  I  should  prefer  the  lye,  as  it  does  the  work  most  thor¬ 
oughly  and  does  not  hurt  the  T  tins  in  the  least,  that  I  can  see. 

“  If  you  have  a  lot  of  dirty  T  tins  I  advise  you  to  clean 
them  in  this  way,  and  see  if  you  are  not  as  delighted  as  I  was 
to  see  them  come  out  so  bright  and  clean.  Be  sure  to  use  plenty 
of  water  in  rinsing  them  off.” 

WETTING  SECTIONS. 

The  well-known  Hubbard  section-press  is  used  for  putting 
the  sections  together.  If  the  sections  are  fresh  from  the  manu¬ 
facturer  and  as  good  as  they  ought  to  be,  they  can  be  put  to¬ 
gether  at  once  without  any  preparation.  If  they  have  been  held 
over  from  the  previous  year  they  may  be  so  dry  that  too  many 


136 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


of  them  will  break  in  folding.  The  joints  of  these  are  wet  in  a 
somewhat  wholesale  manner.  If  they  are  crated  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  favorable  for  it,  the  whole  crate  of  500  are  wet  before 
being  taken  from  the  original  package,  one  side  of  the  crate 
being  removed  so  as  to  expose  the  edges  of  the  sections.  If  the 
crate  is  not  of  the  right  kind  for  this,  then  the  sections  are 
taken  from  the  crate  and  put  in  the  proper  position  in  an 
empty  crate  lying  on  one  side  with  the  top  and  one  end  removed. 
Of  course  the  sections  do  not  lie  flat,  but  on  their  edges,  the 
grooves  of  each  tier  corresponding  with  the  grooves  of  the  other 
tiers,  so  that  a  small  stream  of  water  poured  into  the  grooves  at 
the  top  will  readily  find  its  way  clear  through  to  the  bottom. 
If  necessary  the  sections  must  be  wedged  together,  so  there  will 
be  no  room  for  water  to  get  between  them  only  at  the  grooves. 

A  pint  funnel  is  specially  prepared  for  the  work.  A 
wooden  plug  is  pushed  in  from  above,  projecting  below  two 
inches  or  less.  The  lower  end  of  the  plug  is  whittled  to  a  point, 
and  cither  by  means  of  a  bad  fit  or  by  means  of  a  little  channel 
cut  in’  one  side  of  the  plug,  there  is  just  leak  enough  so  that 
when  the  funnel  is  filled  there  will  be  a  continuous  fine  stream 
of  water  running  from  the  point  of  the  plug.  Holding  the 
funnel  in  one  hand  I  pour  into  it  boiling  water  from  a  tea-kettle 
held  in  the  other  hand,  at  the  same  time  holding  the  funnel  so 
that  the  stream  from  the  point  of  the  plug  shall  be  directed  into 
the  grooves,  moving  the  funnel  along  just  fast  enough  so  that 
the  water  shall  be  sure  to  go  clear  through  to  the  bottom.  Cold 
water  will  not  work  well. 

A  plan  I  like  better  is  to  have  a  vessel  of  hot  water  some¬ 
what  elevated,  with  a  small  rubber  tube  running  from  it,  so  that 
the  stream  from  it  can  easily  be  directed  into  the  grooves.  A 
fountain  syringe  works  nicely. 

Before  wetting,  the  box  of  sections  should  be  stood  so  that 
the  sections  are  on  end,  and  then  jolted  heavily,  so  as  to  make 
the  grooves  correspond  the  whole  depth  of  the  box.  After  the 
sections  are  wet  they  swell  immediately,  making  them  fit  too 
tightly  in  the  box  to  be  gotten  out  without  much  difficulty.  The 
boards  are  torn  off  one  end  of  the  box,  and  after  the  sections 
are  taken  out  the  boards  are  nailed  on  again,  if  it  be  desired  to 
preserve  the  box. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


137 


FOLDING  SECTIONS. 

Sometimes  I  put  sections  together  myself,  but  generally 
some  boy  or  girl  does  the  work  unless  my  wife  be  pressed  into 
service.  The  operator  seated  at  the  machine  (Fig.  57)  has  a 
pile  of  sections  laid  at  a  convenient  height  at  her  left  hand, 
the  sections  piled  so  that  ends  correspond.  As  fast  as  the 
sections  are  taken  from  the  press  they  are  neatly  piled  in  order 
on  a  board  at  the  right  of  the  operator.  (I  know  that  some 
throw  the  sections  indiscriminately  into  a  basket  as  they  leave 
the  press,  and  it  seems  this  ought  to  take  less  time,  but  1  think 
in  the  long  run  my  way  saves  time.)  it  is  desirable  that  the 
board  upon  which  the  sections  are  piled  should  be  light,  as  no 
great  strength  is  required,  and  sometimes  several  thousand 
folded  sections  will  be  piled  up  ahead,  and  it  is  pleasanter  to 
handle  the  light  board.  A  dummy  or  almost  any  board  will 
answer,  but  oftener  hive-covers  are  used.  One  of  these  is  of 
such  size  that  there  may  be  placed  upon  it  side  by  side  three 
rows  of  sections  with  eleven  sections  in  each  row.  Upon  these 
are  placed  three  other  rows,  break-joint  fashion,  with  ten  sec¬ 
tions  in  each  row,  and  this  piling  up  may  continue  till  the  upper 
rows  contain  four  or  less  each.  Generally  the  piling  goes  no 
higher  than  to  have  six  sections  in  the  upper  rows,  making  153 . 
sections  a  boardful.  As  fast  as  one  board  is  filled  another 
takes  its  place,  and  the  filled  board  is  piled  up,  unless  Miss 
Wilson  is  putting  in  foundation  at  the  time  and  is  ready  for 
a  fresh  boardful  of  sections. 

SIZE  OF  STARTERS  IN  SECTIONS. 

Foundation  for  sections  comes  from  the  factory  in  sheets 
large  enough  to  fill  several  sections.  At  different  times  the 
sheets  have  been  of  different  sizes,  but  for  some  time  past  they 
have  measured  3%  x  This  size  is  just  right  to  make  four 

top  starters  3*4  inches  deep,  and  four  bottom  starters  %  inch 
deep.  Occasionally  a  bottom-starter  of  this  depth  makes  trouble 
by  lopping  over,  but  not  often,  and  a  shallower  starter  is  more 
likely  to  be  gnawed  down  by  the  bees.  Moreover,  I  think  the 
deeper  the  bottom-starter  the  more  promptly  the  two  starlers 
are  fastened  together. 


138 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


With  two  starters  of  this  size  in  a  4*4  section,  there  should 
be  a  space  of  Ys  inch  between  the  two  if  it  were  not  that  the 
space  is  made  larger  by  the  melting  away  of  the  edges  of  the 
starters  when  they  are  put  in  the  section  (Fig.  60). 

CUTTING  FOUNDATION. 

I  have  one  time  and  another  used  different  plans  for 
cutting.  A  simple  way,  and  one  that  is  quite  satisfactory,  is 
the  following :  Take  a  board  18  x  12  inches  or  larger ;  on  one 


No.  45 — Field  of  Raspberries  in  Bloom. 


end  nail  a  block  as  a  stop  for  the  ends  of  the  sheets  of  founda¬ 
tion  to  rest  against,  and  on  one  side  nail  four  blocks  about  2^4 
inches  long  as  stops  for  the  one  edge  of  the  foundation  to  rest 
against.  It  is  well  also  to  nail  one  of  these  24=-inch  blocks  on 
the  other  side  near  the  stop  at  the  end,  so  as  to  make  a  space  of 
7%  inches  in  which  the  ends  of  the  foundation  shall  be  con¬ 
fined,  otherwise  the  foundation  has  a  disagreeable  habit  of 
sluing  off  to  one  side  when  the  first  cut  is  made  at  the  other  end. 
Of  course  these  stops  are  to  be  nailed  on  the  upper  surface  of 
the  board  and  not  on  the  edges.  The  two  blocks  that  are  nailed 
nearest  the  end-stop  are  to  be  tight  against  it,  the  others  at  such 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


139 


intervals  as  to  allow  for  cutting  the  3%  starters.  The  size  of 
these  blocks  is  not  important,  %  square  being  a  good  size.  With 
a  rule  of  any  convenient  length  %  x  %,  this  rule  being  used  to 
guide  the  knife  in  cutting,  the  machine  would  now  be  ready  for 
the  foundation  if  one  had  an  eye  accurate  enough  to  put  the 
rule  in  the  right  place.  In  order  to  do  this  quickly  and  accu¬ 
rately,  nails  against  which  to  place  the  rule  at  the  right  places 
are  partly  driven  in  on  both  sides;  2V2-inch  wire  finishing-nafis 
are  good  for  this  purpose.  The  board  is  to  lie  before  you, 
having  the  side  with  the  four  stop-blocks  nearest  you.  Drive  a 
nail  into  each  side  of  the  board  so  that  there  shall  be  a  space  of 
just  3 %  inches  between  the  end-stop  and  the  nail.  I  don’t  mean 
you  shall  mark  a  point  3 %  inches  from  the  end-stop  and  drive 
your  nail  there,  for  that  would  make  3 %  inches  from  the  end- 
stop  to  the  middle  of  the  nail,  whereas  it  should  be  3 %  from 

the  stop  to  the  nearest  side  of  the  nail.  The  distances  of  the 
A  #  m 

other  nails  from  the  end-stops  will  be  as  follows :  6%,  9 %,  13, 
13%,  14%,  14%.  Now  your  cutting-board  is  all  ready  for 
work. 

Two  knives  are  needed,  one  to  be  heating  while  the  other 
is  cutting.  For  heating  I  use  a  common  kerosene  lamp  put  in 
a  box  deep  enough  so  that  when  a  board  is  laid  oyer  the  top  of 
it  and  a  knife  is  laid  on  that  board  the  end  of  the  knife-blade 
shall  be  directly  over  the  lamp,  nearly  or  quite  touching  the  top 
of  the  chimney.  I  don’t  know  what  kind  of  a  knife  is  best.  A 
Barlow  knife  makes  good  work,  but  I  think  I  like  better  a 
common  tea-knife  with  a  thin  steel  blade  broken  off,  so  it  is  2% 
or  3  inches  long,  and  somewhat  square  at  the  point. 

Preparatory  to  cutting,  the  foundation  must  be  carefully 
and  evenly  placed  on  the  board.  Take  several  sheets  and  eyen 
them  up  true  and  nice,  and  lay  the  pile  with  one  end  tight 
against  the  end-stop  and  one  side  against  the  side-stops.  Now 
lay  a  similar  pile  close  beside  it.  Beginning  at  the  right-hand 
end,  place  your  rule  against  the  left-hand  side  of  the  nails,  and 
with  a  quick  stroke  make  a  cut  with  the  knife  held  flat  against 
the  rule.  If  you  don’t  look  out  you’ll  hold  the  rule  so  that  you’ll 
cut  a  piece  off  the  tip  of  the  thumb  or  fingers  of  the  left  hand, 
but  you’ll  not  be  likely  to  do  it  many  times.  If  you  are  not 
careful  to  hold  the  knife  flat  against  the  rule  you  will  be  likely 


140 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


to  cut  into  it.  To  avoid  this  I  have  tried  covering  the  rule  with 
tin,  but  do  not  like  it  so  well.  The  rapidity  of  the  stroke  is 
important.  If  your  knife  is  hot  enough  you  can  cut  clear  down 
through  at  one  stroke,  but  that’s  bad.  The  edges  of  the  founda¬ 
tion  will  be  melted  together,  and  you  will  have  trouble  getting 
them  apart.  Turn  down  your  lamp,  and  get  it  so  three  or  four 
strokes  will  be  needed. 


Fig.  46 — Sweet  Clover. 

Latterly  I  have  given  up  heating  the  knife,  and  like  it 
better.  The  small  blade  of  a  pocket-knife  is  used,  and  it  is  kept 
very  sharp,  especially  at  the  point.  Three  rapid  strokes  do  the 
business.  The  rapidity  of  the  strokes  is  important,  but  some 
practice  is  needed,  for  with  the  very  quick  stroke  there  is  some 
danger  that  the  knife  will  cut  into  the  stick.  If  the  wax  is 
warm  enough  two  strokes  will  do. 

Although  this  plan  takes  more  strokes,  it  still  saves  time  for 
there  is  no  heating  or  changing  of  knives.  It  also  saves  the  time 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


141 


of  pulling  the  pieces  apart,  for  with  the  hot  knife  there  will 
always  be  at  least  a  little  melting  together  at  the  edges.  Of 
course  the  cutting  must  not  be  done  when  the  foundation  is  too 
cold,  or  it  will  be  more  or  less  broken. 

Cutting  foundation  in  a  miter-box  with  a  corrugated  bread- 
knife  was  highly  commended.  I  tried  it,  and  was  quite  pleased 
to  think  it  made  faster  work,  although  hardly  such  exact  work. 
Then  I  timed  it  by  the  watch,  and  was  surprised  to  find  that  it 
took  more  time  than  the  old  way. 

When  the  boardful  is  cut  I  take  a  super  with  a  bottom  in 
it,  gather  up  and  put  into  it  48  bottom-starters,  also  the  48  top- 
starters,  making  these  last  in  a  neat  pile. 

Instead  of  using  a  single  rule,  I  have  for  some  time 
preferred  to  have  a  rule  for  every  cut,  making  a  saving  of 
time.  Take  seven  rules  and  lay  them  on  the  board  on  the  proper 
places  for  cutting.  On  the  ends  of  the  rules,  at  each  side,  lay 
a  thin  strip  of  wood  15  inches  long  or  longer— a  one-piece 
section  without  the  grooves  does  nicely — with  one  end  of  each 
strip  tight  up  against  the  end-stop.  Now  nail  together  in  this 
position,  clinching  the  nails.  You  will  use  this  with  the  other 
side  up,  the  rules  abov,e,  the  side-strips  below  (Fig.  61).  Of 
course  the  guide-nails  are  not  needed  with  this  arrangement. 
In  the  picture  three  of  the  rules  appear  all  right,  but  the  other 
four,  which  are  very  close  together,  look  as  if  they  were  all  one. 

The  cutting-board  rests  on  a  little  work-table  (Fig.  62), 
which  is  quite  convenient  for  this  and  other  purposes. 

The  sections  being  folded  and  the  foundation  cut,  we  are 
now  ready  for  putting  starters  in  the  sections.  This  is  the  work 
of  Miss  Wilson,  and  she  is  an  expert  at  it.  After  trying  a 
number  of  foundation-fasteners,  I  have  found  nothing  with 
which  I  can  do  better  work  than  with  the  Daisy  fastener. 

DIVISION  OF  LABOR. 

I  may  remark  in  passing  that  when  I  speak  of  doing  things 
it  does  not  always  mean  that  I  do  such  things  personally,  for 
it  may  be  that  some  one  else  does  the  work  entirely.  But  when 
any  new  implement  is  to  be  used  or  new  plan  tried,  I  first  care¬ 
fully  study  it  up  and  try  to  learn  just  how  it  ought  to  be  used, 
and  then  I  instruct  the  one  who  is  to  make  a  specialty  of  that 


142 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


part  of  the  work,  and  in  a  short  time  the  specialist  far  exceeds 
the  instructor.  Miss  Wilson  can  put  in,  I  think,  five  starters 
to  my  one;  my  son  Charlie,  when  a  little  chap,  could  distance 
me  in  putting  together  sections;  and  I  think  Philo  can  beat  me 
at  taking  sections  out  of  supers. 

PUTTING  STARTERS  IN  SECTIONS. 

The  Daisy  foundation-fastener  is  so  well  known  that  I  need 
say  nothing  about  the  use  of  the  machine  itself.  As  the  opera¬ 
tor  sits  at  the  machine  with  a  small  pile  of  starters  in  the  lap, 
a  boardful  of  sections  is  at  the  left  hand  at  a  convenient  height, 
the  side  of  the  board  toward  the  operator  (Fig.  87).  The  bot¬ 
tom-starter  is  put  in  first,  then  the  top-starter.  When  the  sec¬ 
tion  has  its  two  starters,  it  is  put  directly  into  the  super.  With 
a  starter  as  deep  as  3^4  inches  it  would  hardly  do  to  throw  the 
sections  in  a  basket.  Formerly  the  sections  when  filled  were 
placed  in  order  on  a  board  the  same  as  the  board  from  which 
they  were  taken,  and  it  was  a  separate  job  afterward  to  fill  them 
in  the  super. 

PUTTING  SECTIONS  IN  SUPERS. 

By  means  of  an  implement  of  my  own  devising,  which  for 
want  of  a  better  name  may  be  called  a  “  super-filler  ”  (Fig.  63), 
the  separate  job  of  filling  sections  in  supers  is  now  entirely 
dispensed  with,  and  the  sections  go  directly  from  the  Daisy 
fastener  into  the  super,  taking  no  more  time  to  be  put  into  the 
super  than  it  would  take  to  put  them  on  a  board.  Indeed,  I 
think  it  takes  a  little  less  time,  for  there  is  not  the  same  need  of 
care  in  placing  the  sections  so  other  sections  will  not  be  knocked 
off  the  board,  but  the  sections  are  shoved  into  place  in  the  super 
in  a  sort  of  automatic  way.  Then,  too,  it  is  a  comfort  to  get 
them  directly  into  the  super,  for  while  on  a  board,  even  for  a 
short  time,  there  is  always  danger  of  some  mishap  by  which  a 
boardful  may  tumble  over  and  come  to  grief. 

SUPER-FILLER. 

Fll  tell  you  how  to  make  a  super-filler.  Take  a  board  as 
large  as  the  outside  dimensions  of  your  super  or  larger.  (The 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


143 


one  in  the  picture  is  a  board  hive-cover.)  Nail  a  cleat  on  one 
end  of  the  board,  and  another  cleat  on  one  side  as  in  the  picture. 
These  cleats  may  be  %  by  %  inch,  but  the  dimensions  are  not 
important.  Now  put  a  super  on  the  board,  shoving  one  corner 
snug  up  in  the  corner  made  by  the  cleats.  With  a  lead-pencil, 
mark  on  the  board,  on  the  inside  of  the  super,  where  the  sides 


Fig.  47 — Alfalfa. 

of  the  super  come.  Put  eight  sections  in  the  super,  four  on 
each  side,  with  three  T  tins  in  their  proper  places.  With  a 
pencil  rule  across  the  board  each  side  of  each  T  tin,  so  as  to 
show  where  the  T  tins  come.  Now  take  off  the  super  and  its 
contents,  and  get  six  strips,  each  1.1%  inches  long  and  %  inch 
square.  Nail  these  on  as  shown  in  the  picture,  so  as  to  keep  at 


144 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


equal  distances  from  the  pencil-mark  of  the  super  at  each  side, 
and  about  a  fourth  of  an  inch  distant  from  the  marks  made  for 
the  T  tins.  The  super-filler  is  now  complete. 

It  stands  at  a  convenient  height  at  the  right-hand  side  of 
the  one  who  operates  the  Daisy  fastener,  with  the  side-cleat  at 
the  further  side  (Fig.  87).  A  super  is  placed  on  it  with  one 
corner  of  the  super  tight  against  the  angle  made  by  the  cleats: 
but  no  T  tin  is  yet  put  in  the  super.  As  the  sections  come  from 
the  fastener  they  are  placed  in  the  super  at  the  end  toward  the 
back  of  the  operator.  When  the  first  row  of  six  is  completed, 
the  T  tin  is  slipped  under  these  sections  into  its  proper  place. 
In  like  manner  a  second  row  of  sections  and  a  T  tin;  then  a 
third  row  and  a  T  tin,  and  lastly  the  fourth  row.  Then,  without 
rising,  the  operator  lifts  this  filled  super  to  one  side  and  gets  an 
empty  one. 


PUTTING  IN  SEPARATORS. 

Generally  these  filled  supers  are  not  separatored  till  the 
day’s  work  of  fastening  foundation  is  done.  Then  a  small  table 
is  used  at  which  the  operator  sits.  This  table  is  made  of  three 
hive  bottom-boards,  or  boards  21  x  14.  Stand  two  of  the  boards 
on  end;  nail  the  other  board  on  top;  nail  light  boards  on  one 
side  for  a  back,  or  brace  with  two  pieces  of  lath  diagonally, 
and  there’s  your  table  (Fig.  62).  Being  convenient  for  other 
purposes,  several  of  these  little  tables  are  on  hand.  The  table 
is  placed  near  a  pile  of  supers  to  be  separatored,  and  the  sep¬ 
arators  are  filled  in. 


TOP  SEPARATORS. 

As  the  sections  now  stand,  there  is  some  space  between 
them  endwise,  allowing  them  to  be  out  of  square,  and  making  a 
convenient  place  for  the  bees  to  deposit  a  disagreeable  quantity 
of  propolis.  To  remedy  this,  there  is  crowded  in  at  the  top 
between  each  two  rows  of  sections  a  little  stick  ll1/^  by  ^4  by 
scant  %.  Then  the  follower  is  wedged  in  with  a  super-spring, 
and  when  all  are  done  the  supers  are  carried  into  the  south  room 
or  store-room;  and  piled  up  to  await  the  harvest  time. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


145 


BAIT-SECTIONS. 

Bait-sections  are  put  in  enough  supers  so  that  the  first 
super  put  on  each  hive  shall  be  baited.  Generally  only  one  bait- 
section  is  in  a  super,  the  bait  being  in  the  center,  and  these 
baited  supers  are  piled  in  the  store-room  where  it  will  be  con¬ 
venient  to  reach  them  first. 


Fig.  48—Colossal  Ladino  Clover. 


SATISFACTION  IN  HAVING  SUPERS  READY. 


There  is  a  feeling  of  real  satisfaction  in  seeing  the  larger 
part  of  the  store-room  filled  with  piles  of  supers  ready  to  go  on 
the  hives.  How  many  times  I  have  counted  them  and  admired 
the  nice  even  piles  reaching  to  the  ceiling!  Perhaps  I  should 
not  appreciate  them  so  much  if  I  had  not,  years  ago,  felt  the 
annoyance  of  running  out  of  sections  or  foundation  right  in  the 
middle  of  the  honey  season,  waiting  days  for  it,  and  the  honey 
wasting. 


146 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Having  spent  this  much  time  telling  what  was  done  the 
previous  winter,  let  us  get  back  to  warmer  weather. 

GIVING  ADDITIONAL  SUPERS. 

Understanding  now  that  each  colony  has  had  a  super  given 
to  it  about  ten  days  after  the  very  first  white-clover  blossom  has 
been  seen,  or  sooner,  the  further  history  of  this  super  and  its 
possible  successors  is  a  matter  that  varies  so  much  in  different 
seasons  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  it  straight.  By  the  way,  you 
may  think  that  Urn  always  thrilled  with  the  sight  of  the  first 
clover  blossom.  I’m  not.  Scarcely  ever  a  thrill.  The  colonies 
are  rarely  all  of  them  as  strong  as  I  would  like  for  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  harvest,  and  that  first  clover  blossom  is  merely  a 
warning  that  the  time  for  building  up  for  the  harvest  is  becom¬ 
ing  very  short. 


UNCERTAINTY  OF  SEASONS. 

As  to  giving  additional  super  room,  it  is  a  thing  that  may 
or  not  be.  That  first  clover  bloom  may  have  so  few  successors 
that  there  will  be  no  harvest  ;  or  bloom  may  be  abundant  with 
no  nectar.  So  sometimes  it  happens  that  after  it  becomes  a 
clear  case  that  the  harvest  is  a  failure,  the  supers  are  taken  off 
as  innocent  of  honey  as  when  they  were  put  on.  Oftener  it 
happens  that  the  bait-section  in  each  super  is  filled  and  sealed 
and  not  a  cell  drawn  out  in  the  other  sections.  From  that  up, 
the  seasons  will  vary  so  that  the  average  number  of  sections  to 
each  colony  will  be  10,  24,  48,  and  up  to  150  or  more,  although 
these  latter  seasons  do  not  come  with  any  alarming  degrees  of 
frequency. 

If  one  could  know  in  advance  just  what  the  season  was 
going  to  be,  one  could  tell  a  good  deal  better  what  to  do  in  the 
way  of  giving  additional  super  room.  One  may  give  so  much 
room  that  there  will  be  an  undue  proportion  of  unfinished  sec¬ 
tions  at  the  final  taking  off,  or  one  may  leave  the  bees  so  crowd¬ 
ed  for  room  as  to  lose  part  of  the  crop.  I  am  not  likely  to  make 
the  latter  mistake,  which  I  consider  a  good  deal  worse  than  to 
have  too  many  unfinished  sections. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


147 


GUESSING  ABOUT  MORE  SUPER  ROOM. 

On  the  whole,  there  is  a  mixture  of  judgment  and  guess¬ 
work  as  to  putting  on  any  super  after  the  first.  Perhaps  the 
nearest  to  a  general  rule  in  the  matter  is  to  give  a  second  super 
when  the  first  is  half  filled.  If,  however,  honey  seems  to  be 
coming  in  slowly,  or  if  the  colony  is  not  strong,  and  the  bees 
seem  to  have  plenty  of  room  in  the  super,  no  second  super  is 
given,  although  the  one  already  there  may  be  nearly  filled  with 
honey.  On  the  other  hand,  if  honey  seems  to  be  coming  with 
a  rush,  and  the  bees  seem  crowded  for  room,  a  second  super  may 
be  given  although  there  is  very  little  honey  in  the  first.  These 
same  conditions  continued,  a  third  super  may  be  given  when  the 
second  is  only  fairly  started  and  the  first  not  half  full,  and 
before  the  first  super  is  ready  to  take  off  there  may  be  four  or 
five  supers  on  the  hive. 

RISKING  IN  GOOD  SEASON. 

In  the  year  1897 — a  remarkably  prosperous  year — there 
were  on  the  hives  in  the  Wilson  apiary  an  average  of  four 
supers  to  each  colony,  some  colonies  with  less  than  four  and 
some  with  more,  before  a  single  super  was  filled.  As  I  would  lie 
at  night  thinking  it  over,  I  would  say  to  myself,  “  What  if  there 
should  come  one  of  those  sudden  stops  to  the  flow  that  some¬ 
times  occur,  and  you  should  be  caught  with  those  tons  of  honey 
with  scarcely  any  sections  finished  in  the  lot?  Wouldn’t  you 
wish  you  had  gone  a  little  slower,  and  had  the  bees  finish  up 
what  they  had,  rather  than  coax  them  to  spread  over  more 
territory?  ”  And  then  the  cold  chills  would  run  up  and  down 
my  back.  But  the  sudden  stop  didn’t  come,  and  the  crop  was 
finished  in  good  style.  The  supers  were  all  well  filled  with  bees, 
and  although  I  took  some  chances  as  to  unfinished  work,  I  feel 
pretty  sure  that  if  I  had  allowed  less  room  it  would  have  been 
at  a  loss.  But  that  was  a  very  exceptional  case. 

Usually,  in  a  fair  season,  when  the  harvest  is  in  full  blast 
and  fairly  along,  there  will  be  3,  4,  or  more  supers  upon  each 
hive,  at  one  time,  and  in  an  extra  season  there  may  be  a  few 
hives  having  seven,  or  even  eight,  supers  each.  That  does  not 
mean,  by  any  means,  that  all  of  them  will  be  finished,  for  very 


148 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


likely  the  last  super  given  will  have  very  little  honey  in  it  when 
the  harvest  is  over.  But  it  will  not  do  to  let  the  bees  be  crowded 
for  room,  and  if  all  the  sections  on  the  hive  are  about  full,  if 
the  harvest  has  not  entirely  closed  an  empty  super  must  be 
given,  in  case  they  might  need  it. 


Fig.  49 — Linden  or  Basswood  Blossoms. 


SUPERS  FOR  OUT- APIARIES. 

If  there  is  guessing  about  the  number  of  supers  to  put  on 
in  the  home  apiary,  there  is  still  more  guessing  as  to  the  number 
to  be  taken  when  starting  to  an  out-apiary.  If  I  take  a  smaller 
number  than  needed,  I  may  have  to  take  a  special  trip  for  more. 
If  I  take  more  than  are  needed,  I  will  hardly  want  to  take  them 
back  home  with  me,  and  they  are  put  in  piles  and  covered  up  in 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


149 


the  hope  that  they  may  be  used  the  next  time.  But  there  is  some 
danger  of  their  being  affected  by  rain  when  piled  up  at  the  out- 
apiary,  so  there  is  trouble  either  way.  On  the  whole  it  is  better 
to  take  too  many  than  too  few,  and  so  there  are  generally  some 
extra  ones  at  the  out-apiaries. 

To  take  supers  to  the  out-apiaries,  they  are  piled  up  on  the 
wagon  in  five  piles,  a  lath  is  nailed  from  top  to  bottom  on  each 
pile,  and  they  are  braced  on  top  with  lath  (Fig.  64).  Fifty 
empty  supers  can  be  taken  at  a  load,  but  it  is  not  often  that  as 
many  as  forty  filled  supers  are  taken  at  a  load. 

ADDING  SUPERS  UNDER  OR  OVER. 

As  the  harvest  advances  I  am  more  chary  about  giving 
room,  and  it  is  given  only  when  the  sections  already  on  are 
pretty  well  filled.  Suppose  toward  the  last  of  the  season  I  come 
to  a  colony  that  has  its  sections  nearly  all  filled.  There  is  a 
possibility  that  the  bees  may  be  able  to  finish  up  what  they  have 
and  a  few  more  in  an  additional  super,  but  the  great  probability 
is  that  they  will  do  no  more  than  to  finish  what  they  have.  Al¬ 
though  that  probability  may  amount  to  almost  a  certainty,  I  do 
not  act  upon  it,  but  go  for  the  possibility  and  give  the  extra 
super.  But  I  put  it  on  top  of  the  others,  so  that  the  bees  will 
not  commence  work  in  it  unless  actually  crowded  into  it. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  harvest,  so  long  as  there  is  a 
reasonable  expectation  that  each  additional  super  will  be  need¬ 
ed,  the  empty  super  is  put  under  the  others,  next  to  the  brood- 
chamber.  Work  will  commence  in  it  more  promptly  than  when 
an  empty  super  is  placed  on  top,  and  that  greater  promptness 
in  occupying  the  new  super  may  be  the  straw  to  turn  the  scale 
on  the  side  of  keeping  down  the  desire  for  swarming.  But 
when  a  super  is  put  on  toward  the  close  of  the  season,  not 
because  it  seems  really  needed,  but  as  a  sort  of  safety-valve  in 
case  it  might  be  needed,  I  do  not  wish  to  do  any  thing  to  coax 
the  bees  into  it,  so  it  is  put  on  top,  and  the  bees  can  do  as  they 
please  about  entering  it.  It  is  true  that  if  an  empty  super  is 
put  under  the  others  at  a  time  when  the  harvest  is  nearing  its 
close,  the  bees  may  not  do  a  thing  in  it,  but  merely  go  up  and 
down  through  it  and  keep  to  work  in  the  super  above.  But  it 


150 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


is  not  so  well  to  have  them  working  so  far  from  the  brood-nest 
with  empty  space  beneath. 

No  bait-section  is  needed  in  any  super  after  the  first. 

EMPTY  SUPERS  ON  TOP. 

Latterly  I  have  fallen  into  the  practice  of  giving  an  empty 
super  on  top,  even  when  an  empty  super  is  put  under.  This  for 
more  than  one  reason.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  upper 
starter  of  foundation  is  not  securely  fastened  the  entire  length 


Fig.  50 — Row  of  Lindens  in  Bloom. 


If  fastened  half  way  across  the  top-bar  of  the  section,  it  will 
look  all  right,  but  if  put  under  other  supers,  next  to  the  brood- 
chamber,  a  heavy  weight  of  bees  coming  upon  it  suddenly  will 
drag  down  the  foundation  at  one  side.  If  put  on  top,  the  bees 
will  enter  the  super  only  gradually,  and  the  foundation  will  be 
fastened  in  place  before  any  great  weight  of  bees  comes  upon  it. 
This  empty  super  on  top  gives  a  less  crowded  feeling,  and  may 
help  a  little  toward  preventing  swarming.  No  matter  how  full 
or  empty  the  lower  super  may  be,  this  top  super  serves  as  a  sort 
of  safety-valve,  in  case  any  need  for  more  room  should  arise. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


151 


The  next  time  there  is  need  to  give  a  super  below,  this  top  super 
is  moved  down  and  another  empty  super  put  in  its  place.  When 
the  top  super  is  put  down,  I  think  the  bees  start  work  on  il 
just  a  bit  sooner  than  if  it  had  not  been  above. 

SWARMING  NOT  DESIRABLE. 

If  I  were  to  meet  a  man  perfect  in  the  entire  science  and 
art  of  beekeeping,  and  were  allowed  from  him  an  answer  to  just 
one  question,  I  would  ask  for  the  best  and  easiest  way  to  pre¬ 
vent  swarming,  for  one  who  is  anxious  to  secure  the  largest 
crop  of  comb  honey.  There  are  localities  where  a  large  crop 
of  honey  is  secured  in  the  fall,  and  in  such  place,  or  in  any 
place  where  the  honey-flow  is  long  enough,  a  larger  crop  may 
be  secured  by  increase,  but  I  am  not  so  sure  about  that.  If  a 
man  in  such  a  place  start  in  the  spring  with  75  colonies,  he  may 
get  a  larger  crop  by  increasing  early  enough  to  150,  supposing 
150  colonies  to  be  the  largest  number  his  field  will  bear;  but 
would  he  not  have  a  still  larger  crop  if  he  had  150  all  through 
the  season  and  made  no  increase  ?  However  that  may  be,  in  my 
locality,  which  beekeepers  generally  would  consider  a  poor  one, 
where  white  clover  is  the  chief  if  not  the  only  source  from 
which  a  crop  may  be  expected,  and  where  the  harvest  is  all  too 
short,  if,  indeed,  it  comes  at  all — in  such  a  place  I  am  satisfied 
that  more  honey  can  be  harvested  by  commencing  in  the  spring 
with  the  largest  number  the  field  will  bear  and  holding  at  that 
number,  always  provided  that  the  means  taken  to  keep  down 
increase  shall  in  no  wise  interfere  with  the  best  work  on  the 
part  of  the  bees. 

If  I  were  working  for  extracted  honey,  I  suppose  the 
matter  might  be  managed,  to  a  great  extent,  if  not  to  the  fullest 
extent,  by  simply  giving  abundance  of  room  in  every  direction ; 
but  with  comb  honey,  I  do  not  believe  that  an  abundance  of 
room  in  the  brood-nest  is  compatible  with  the  largest  yield  of 
surplus. 

Or,  if  I  were  working  for  extracted  honey,  1  might  at  the 
beginning  of  the  harvest  put  all  the  brood  over  an  excluder  in 
an  upper  story,  leaving  the  queen  on  empty  frames  below,  but 
that  would  hardly  work  for  comb-honey  production. 


152 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


MANAGEMENT  OF  SWARMING  COLONIES. 

From  my  first  using  movable  frames,  1  think  1  have  kept 
my  queens’  wings  clipped,  so  my  experience  in  having  natural 
swarms  with  flying  queens  has  been  very  limited.  But  my 
experience  in  having  swarms  issue  where  and  when  1  did  not 
want  them,  has  been  very  large.  Only  extreme  modesty  and 
humility  prevents  my  being  very  proud  of  so  large  an  experi¬ 
ence.  If  I  should  ever  reach  that  point  where  I  shall  be  equally 
successful  in  preventing  swarms,  I  make  no  promise  to  be  either 
modest  or  humble. 

So  long  as  success  in  prevention  of  swarms  has.  not  been 
reached,  it  remains  an  important  matter  to  know  the  best  thing 
to  do  when  swarms  do  issue.  Under  ordinary  circumstances 
some  one  must  be  on  hand  to  watch  for  swarms.  For  several 
years  I  have  had  no  watching  for  swarms,  and  have  had  no 
swarms  except  those  which  swarmed  in  spite  of  my  efforts  to 
prevent  them.  Yet  if  I  had  only  the  one  apiary,  it  is  just 
possible  that  I  might  allow  swarming,  at  least  so  far  as  to  allow 
the  bees  to  swarm  and  then  return  to  their  old  hives.  At  any 
rate  there  are  a  great  many  so  situated  as  to  allow  their  bees  to 
go  thus  far  in  swarming,  and  I  feel  pretty  sure  that  for  them 
there  may  be  some  interest  in  knowing  what  I  did  when  swarms 
did  issue,  so  I  will  give  an  account  of  my  management  when  1 
formerly  allowed  the  bees  to  swarm. 

WATCHING  FOR  SWARMS. 

With  as  many  as  100  colonies  in  an  apiary,  the  one  who  is 
on  watch  can  hardly  be  allowed  to  do  any  thing  else.  The 
regular  noise  is  so  great  among  so  many  that  the  added  noise  of  a 
swarm  is  hardly  noticed ;  so  sight,  not  hearing,  must  be  depended 
on.  I  have  gone  on  with  my  regular  work  and  taken  a  look  once 
in  five  or  ten  minutes  along  the  rows  to  see  if  any  swarms  were 
out,  but  it  is  not  a  very  satisfactory  way  of  doing.  A  bright 
boy  or  girl  can  watch  very  well,  if  faithful.  Tt  is  not  necessary, 
of  course,  to  watch  all  day;  and  the  weather  has  much  to  do 
with  the  hours  at  which  swarms  may  be  expected.  On  a  hot 
morning  a  swarm  may  issue  as  early  as  6  o’clock;  but  this  is 
exceptional,  and  if  the  weather  has  been  cloudy  through  the  day, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


153 


clearing  off  bright  and  warm  in  the  after  part,  a  swarm  may 
issue  after  4  o’clock.  Ordinarily,  however,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  be  on  the  lookout  before  8  a.  mv  or  much  after  2  p.  m.  I  had 
a  swarm  issue  once  in  a  shower,  but  that  is  so  unlikely  to  occur 
that  I  would  not  think  it  worth  while  to  keep  any  watch  at  such 
a  time. 


Fig.  51 — Catnip. 


The  watcher  will  soon  learn  the  points  of  advantage  from 
which  he  can  easily  command  a  view  of  the  whole  apiary,  not 
needing  to  stir  from  his  seat  unless  a  swarm  issues.  Sometimes, 
however,  there  is  so  much  playing  going  on  among  the  bees,  that 
there  is  no  alternative  but  to  travel  about  and  take  a  close  look 
at  each  colony  that  shows  unusual  excitement.  It  is  an  advan¬ 
tage  at  this  time  to  have  the  hives  in  long  rows.  I  have  30  or 


]  54 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


40  hives  in  a  row.  At  the  middle  is  a  shady  place  to  sit.  A 
clock  or  watch  lies  in  open  sight  so  that  a  look  at  every  hive 
may  be  taken  once  in  five  minutes.  If  there  is  no  time-piece  to 
go  by,  the  watcher  may  become  interested  in  something  else,  and 
think  the  five  minutes  not  up  when  double  that  time  has  passed ; 
but  having  the  time  measured  out,  he  is  free  to  read  or  do  any 
thing  else  between  times.  At  each  five  minutes,  the  watcher, 
who  is  sitting  at  the  middle  of  the  middle  row,  rises,  glances 
along  the  back  row  to  the  north  end ;  then  along  the  middle  row 
to  the  north  end;  then,  stepping  forward,  glances  along  the 
front  row  to  the  north  end;  then  along  the  same  row  to  the 
south  end ;  then  to  the  south  end  of  the  middle  row ;  and  lastly 
to  the  south  end  of  the  back  row.  All  this  has  taken  less  time 
than  it  takes  to  write  it,  and  the  watcher  is  readjr  to  sit  down 
till  another  five  minutes  is  up. 

If,  however,  unusual  commotion  is  seen — and,  sighting 
along  the  rows  in  this  way,  it  can  easily  be  seen — the  watcher 
goes  to  the  hive  for  a  closer  look.  Up  to  the  middle  of  the  day 
or  later,  there  is  not  often  much  excitement,  unless  there  be  a 
swarm;  but  after  this  time  so  many  colonies  take  their  play- 
spells  that  the  watcher  needs  to  spend  most  of  his  time  on  his 
feet. 


ONE-CENT  CAGES. 

The  watcher  is  provided  with  a  number  of  queen-cages. 
These  are  easily  made  and  the  material  costs  less  than  a  cent 
apiece.  I  take  a  pine  block,  5  x  1  x  V2- inch,  and  wrap  around  it 
a  piece  of  wire  cloth  4  inches  square.  The  wire  cloth  is  allowed 
to  project  at  one  end  of  the  block  a  half-inch.  The  four  side^ 
of  this  projecting  end  are  bent  down  upon  the  end  of  the  stick 
and  hammered  down  tight  into  place.  A  piece  of  fine  wire 
about  10  inches  long  is  wrapped  around  the  wire  cloth,  about 
an  inch  from  the  open  end,  which  will  be  about  the  middle  of 
the  stick,  and  the  ends  of  the  wire  twisted  together.  I  then 
pull  out  the  block,  trim  off  the  corners  of  the  end  a  little  so  that 
it  will  easily  enter  the  cage,  slide  the  stick  in  and  out  of  the 
cage  a  number  of  times  so  that  it  will  work  easily,  and  the 
thing  is  complete  (Fig.  65).  When  not  in  use,  the  block  is 
pushed  clear  in,  so  as  to  preserve  the  shape  of  the  cage.  Such 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


155 


cages  can  be  carried  in  the  pocket  without  danger  of  being 
injured. 

FINDING  QUEEN  OF  SWARM. 

When  the  watcher  finds  a  swarm  issuing,  he  is  pretty  dull 
if  he  does  not  become  interested  in  looking  for  the  queen.  I  do 


Fig.  52 — Vase  of  Goldenrod. 

not  know  of  any  sure  way  to  find  the  queen,  but  she  is  not  often 
missed.  I  think  I  can  find  her  most  easily  by  watching  on  the 
ground  in  front  of  the  entrance.  Very  frequently  she  comes 
out  at  the  back  end  of  the  hive  or  at  the  side,  when  the  hive  is 
raised  on  blocks.  Rarely  she  may  be  found  at  some  distance 
from  the  hive,  on  the  ground,  with  a  group  of  bees  about  her. 
If  not  found,  she  is  most  likely  in  the  hive,  and  the  swarm  may 


156 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


re-issue  in  a  day  or  two.  She  may  be  lost,  but  at  this  particu¬ 
lar  time  her  loss  is  not  so  very  great.  There  is  no  danger  of 
the  swarm  being  lost ;  it  will  return  to  the  hive  in  a  few  minutes, 
although  I  have  known  them  to  cluster  for  half  an  hour  or  more 
before  returning.  It  may  happen,  sometimes,  that  a  swarm 
may  go  into  a  hive  whose  colony  has  swarmed  a  little  while 
before,  and  where  it  is  always  peacefully  received.  I  do  not 
like  this  doubling  up,  but  I  do  not  know  that  I  lose  any  thing 
by  it,  for  the  bees  can  store  up  just  as  much  in  one  hive  as 
another. 

When  the  watcher  finds  the  queen,  she  is  caged.  Either  the 
cage  is  held  down  for  her  to  run  into,  or  she  is  caught  and  then 
caged.  After  the  queen  is  in  the  cage,  the  block  is  pushed  in 
an  inch  or  so,  and  the  cage  put  where  the  bees  can  take  care  of 
it.  Usually  it  is  thrust  into  the  entrance,  close  up  against  the 
bottom-bars,  so  that  if  a  cool  night  should  come  there  will  be 
no  danger  that  the  bees  will  desert  it. 

The  watcher  keeps  a  little  memorandum  book,  and  puts 
down  in  it  the  number  of  the  colony  that  swarmed ;  for  it  might 
make  bad  work  if  it  should  be  forgotten  and  neglected  until  the 
emergence  of  a  young  queen  to  lead  out  an  absconding  swarm. 

Doolittle’s  plan. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  G.  M.  Doolittle  gave  a  plan  for  man¬ 
agement  of  swarming  colonies  when  no  increase  was  desired. 
I  do  not  think  that  he  uses  it  now.  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall 
ever  use  it  again,  and  yet  it  was  valuable  to  me,  and  for  some 
circumstances  nothing  may  be  better.  The  plan,  in  brief,  was 
this :  The  queen  being  caged  and  left  in  the  hive,  all  queen-cells 
are  cut  out  in  five  days  from  the  time  the  swarm  issued,  and 
five  days  later  all  queen-cells  are  again  cut  out  and  the  queen  set 
at  liberty. 

1  used  this  one  season  with  great  satisfaction,  and  I  do  not 
remember  that  any  colony  thus  treated  swarmed  again. 

VARYING  DOOLITTLE’S  PLAN. 

The  next  season  I  varied  the  plan.  Instead  of  leaving  the 
queen  with  the  colony  to  remain  idle  for  ten  days,  I  took  her 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


157 


away  and  gave  her  to  a  nucleus,  a  new  colony,  or  wherever  a 
queen  was  needed.  At  the  end  of  the  ten  days  I  returned  her 
to  the  colony,  placing  her  directly  upon  a  comb  taken  from  the 
middle  of  the  broodnest.  Often,  however,  I  gave  them  a  differ¬ 
ent  queen,  for  after  an  absence  of  ten  days  I  doubt  if  they 
could  tell  their  own  queen  from  any  other.  Besides,  they  were 
in  a  condition  to  take  any  queen  without  grumbling. 

After  the  first  year,  however,  I  had  some  colonies  swarm 
again  after  the  queen  was  given  them.  Whether  it  was  the 
season,  the  change  in  the  plan,  or  some  other  cause,  I  am  unable 
to  say. 


PUT-UP  PLAN. 

I  then  adopted  a  plan  which  relieved  me  of  the  necessity 
of  hunting  for  and  cutting  out  queen-cells.  No  matter  how 
careful  I  might  be,  there  was  always  a  possibility  that  I  might 
overlook  a  queen-cell,  although  this  very  rarely  happened,  if 
ever.  But  it  took  a  great  deal  of  valuable  time.  I  give  here¬ 
with  the  plan,  which  I  think  an  improvement: 

When  a  swarm  issues  and  returns,  it  is  ready  for  treatment 
immediately;  although  usually  it  is  put  down  in  my  memoran¬ 
dum  of  work  to  be  done,  and  the  time  set  for  it  may  be  the  next 
day  or  any  time  within  five  days,  just  as  suits  my  convenience. 
The  queen  is  caged  at  the  time  of  swarming,  and  left  in  the  care 
of  the  bees,  as  already  mentioned. 

Within  the  five  clays,  I  take  off  the  super,  and  put  most  of 
the  brood-combs  into  an  empty  hive.  Indeed,  I  may  take  all 
the  brood-combs,  for  I  want  in  this  hive  all  the  combs  the  colony 
should  have.  In  the  hive  left  on  the  stand,  I  leave  or  put  from 
one  to  three  frames,  generally  two.  These  combs  must  be  sure 
to  have  no  queen-cells,  and  may  be  most  safely  taken  from  a 
young  or  weak  colony  having  no  inclination  to  swarm.  The 
two  combs  are  put  in  one  side  of  the  hive,  two  or  three  dum¬ 
mies  placed  beside  them,  and  the  rest  of  the  hive  left  vacant. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  11  Will  not  the  bees  build  comb 
in  this  vacant  part  of  the  hive?  ”  No;  at  least  they  do  not  for 
me.  Queenless  colonies  are  little  given  to  comb-building,  and 
not  at  all  inclined  to  make  a  fresh  start  in  a  new  place. 


158 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


If  I  did  not  do  so  at  the  time  of  taking  out  the  frames,  I 
now  shake  the  bees  off  from  about  half  the  frames,  not  being 
particular  to  shake  them  off  clean.  These  bees  are  of  course 
shaken  off  into  the  hive  on  the  stand.  The  supers  are  now  put 
on  this  hive  with  its  two  or  three  frames  of  brood,  the  cover  is 
put  over  the  supers,  and  the  “  put-up  ”  hive  filled  with  brood 
is  placed  over  all. 

Please  understand  that  there  is  no  communication  whatever 
between  the  lower  and  the  upper  hive,  each  hive  having  its  own 
cover  and  bottom-board. 

GETTING  THE  BEES  TO  DESTROY  THE  QUEEN-CELLS. 

A  plenty  of  bees  will  be  left  to  care  for  the  brood,  the 
queen  will  commence  laying,  all  thought  of  swarming  is  given 
up,  and  every  queen-cell  torn  down  by  the  bees.  In  perhaps  two 
days  I  take  a  peep  to  see  if  the  queen  is  laying,  for  it  sometimes 
happeus  that  at  the  time  when  I  “  put  up  the  queen  ”  (as  I  call 
the  operation  I  have  just  described),  there  is  already  a  young 
queen  just  hatched,  and  then  the  old  queen  is  pretty  sure  to  be 
destroyed.  In  this  latter  case  I  may  remove  the  young  queen 
and  give  them  a  laying  one,  or  I  may  let  the  young  queen 
remain. 

PUTTING  DOWN  THE  QUEEN. 

In  ten  days  from  the  time  the  swarm  issued — sometimes 
ten  days  from  the  time  I  “  put  up  the  queen  ” — I  put  down  the 
queen.  If  by  chance  a  young  queen  is  in  the  upper  hive,  I  do 
not  like  to  put.  her  down  until  she  commences  laying  and  her 
wing  is  clipped,  for  fear  of  her  taking  out  a  swarm.  It  seems 
a  foolish  operation  for  them  to  swarm  when  there  is  nothing  in 
the  hive  from  which  a  queen  can  be  reared,  but  I  have  had  it 
happen.  The  operation  of  putting  down  is  very  simple.  I  lift 
the  hive  off  the  top,  place  it  on  the  ground,  remove  the  supers, 
take  the  hive  off  the  stand,  place  it  on  one  side,  put  the  hive 
containing  the  queen  on  the  stand,  and  replace  the  supers. 

You  will  see  that  this  leaves  the  queen  full  chance  to  lay 
from  the  minute  she  is  uncaged,  and  at  the  time  of  putting 
down  there  will  be  as  much  brood  as  if  the  queen  had  remained 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


159 


in  her  usual  place.  Most  of  the  bees,  of  course,  adhered  to  the 
lower  hive  when  the  queen  was  put  up,  but  by  the  time  she  is 
put  down  quite  a  force  has  hatched  out,  and  these  have  marked 
the  upper  hive  as  their  location.  Upon  this  being  taken  away, 
the  bees  as  they  return  from  the  field  will  settle  upon  the  cover, 
where  their  hive  was,  and  form  a  cluster  there;  finally  an 


Fig.  53 — Two  Asters. 


explorer  will  crawl  down  to  the  entrance  of  the  hive  below,  and 
a  line  of  march  in  that  direction  will  be  established  immediately. 
In  a  day  or  two  they  will  go  straight  to  the  proper  entrance. 

GOOD  CHANCE  FOR  NUCLEI. 

We  left,  standing  on  the  ground,  the  hive  with  its  two 
combs,  which  had  been  taken  from  the  stand.  These  two  combs, 


160 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


when  the  queen  was  put  up,  probably  had  a  good  quantity  of 
eggs,  and  brood  in  all  stages.  They  now  contain  none  but  sealed 
brood,  some  queen-cells  and  a  pretty  heavy  supply  of  pollen. 
Or,  it  may  be  that  eggs  from  a  choice  queen  were  given,  and  the 
queen-cells  are  to  be  saved.  A  goodly  number  of  bees  adhere  to 
the  two  combs  and  I  know  of  no  nicer  way  to  start  a  new  colony 
than  simply  to  place  the  hive  in  a  new  location.  Or,  the  bees 
may  be  shaken  off  at  the  old  stand  and  the  combs  given  to  a 
nucleus  which  needs  them. 

I  may  remark  in  passing,  that  these  queenless  colonies  will 
produce  queen-cells  not  excelled  by  those  of  a  swarming  colony, 
and  not  surjjassed  in  excellence  by  those  produced  by  any  of  the 
best  plans  used  by  queen-breeders.  In  short,  I  do  not  believe  it 
is  possible  to  have  better.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  all  of  them  are  not  of  equal  excellence.  For  the  bees  will 
continue  to  start  cells  for  several  days,  and  the  last  ones  started 
will  be  from  larvae  too  old  to  make  good  queens.  You  may  be 
able  to  distinguish  these  cells  by  their  poorer  look,  or,  if  you 
give  the  bees  several  cells,  among  them  at  least  one  or  two  of  the 
finest  looking,  they  will  make  no  mistake  in  making  the  proper 
selection. 


WORKING  OF  QUEENLESS  BEES. 

It  may  be  objected  that  this  keeping  bees  queenless  for  ten 
days  makes  them  work  with  less  vigor.  I  am  not  sure  but  it 
ought,  but  I  must  confess  I  have  had  no  strong  proof  of  it  come 
directly  under  my  own  observation.  So  far  as  I  could  tell,  these 
bees  seemed  to  work  just  as  hard  when  their  queen  was  taken 
away  as  before.  In  the  spring  of  1885  one  colony  was,  by  some 
means,  left  entirely  away  from  the  proper  rows — some  three 
rods  from  any  other  colony.  I  took  it  away,  put  it  in  proper 
line,  and  left  to  catch  the  returning  stragglers  a  hive  containing 
one  comb,  this  comb  having  no  brood  and  very  little  if  any 
honey.  This  colony  having  been  a  very  weak  one,  very  few  bees 
returned  to  the  old  spot,  but  these  few  surprised  me  by  filling  a 
good  stock  of  honey  in  empty  comb,  before  they  were  put  with 
the  rest  of  the  colony. 

Swarms  treated  on  this  “  putting  up  ”  plan  often  swarmed 
again,  but  if  they  did  they  were  put  up  again.  An  objection  to 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


161 


the  plan  was  that  these  “  putups  ”  were  in  the  way  and  had  to 
be  lifted  down  when  any  thing  was  done  with  supers.  Still,  for 
any  one  who  allows  the  bees  to  swarm,  and  who  does  not  object 
to  the  lifting,  the  plan  is  a  good  one. 

VARYING  THE  PLAN. 

To  avoid  the  heavy  lifting,  there  has  been  a  tendency 
toward  a  variation,  by  way  of  putting  up  only  two  or  three 
frames  of  brood  with  the  queen.  (Indeed  the  number  of  frames 


Fig.  54 — Three  Asters. 

put  up  may  be  anywhere  from  two  to  the  whole  number.)  If 
only  two  frames  are  put  up,  the  lifting  is  light,  but  there  is 
more  work  in  killing  the  cells  in  the  lower  hive,  both  at  the  time 
of  putting  up  the  queen,  and  at  the  time  of  putting  down. 
Putting  up  the  larger  number  of  frames  has  the  advantage  that 
the  queen  has  the  chance  to  lay  without  hindrance,  keeping  up 


162 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


the  full  strength  of  the  colony.  On  the  other  hand,  when  only 
two  frames  are  put  up  I  think  the  colony  is  more  likely  to 
continue  the  rest  of  the  season  without  swarming. 

GIVING  NUCLEUS  TO  SWARM. 

A  plan  that  has  seemed  to  be  as  satisfactory  as  any  other, 
although  it  is  not  always  convenient  to  use  it,  is  upon  the  issuing 
of  a  swarm  to  pick  up  the  queen  so  as  to  have  her  out  of  the 
way,  remove  the  old  hive  from  the  stand  and  place  on  the  stand 
a  nucleus  in  a  regular  hive.  The  supers  are  put  upon  this 
hive,  and  the  swarm  is  left  to  return  at  its  leisure.  This  takes 
little  time  and  trouble,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  further 
swarming.  I  have  seen  it  stated  that  when  the  swarm  returns 
the  queen,. of  the  nucleus  may  be  killed,  but  that  does  not  occur 
“  in  this  locality/’ 


PREVENTION  OF  SWARMING. 

I  don’t  quite  like  that  heading.  It  may  be  understood  to 
mean  that  I  am  entirely  successful  in  profitably  preventing 
swarming,  and  I  am  not  certain  that  I  have  yet  attained  to  that. 
I  say  profitably  preventing  it,  for  there  might  be  such  a  thing 
as  preventing  it  in  a  way  that  would  hardly  pay.  If  a  colony 
disposed  to  swarm  should  be  blown  up  with  dynamite,  it  would 
probably  not  swarm  again,  but  its  usefulness  as  a  honey-gather¬ 
ing  institution  would  be  somewhat  impaired.  Swarming  might 
also  be  prevented  by  means  of  such  character  as  to  involve  an 
amount  of  trouble  that  would  make  it  unprofitable;  or  it  might 
be  prevented  in  such  a  way  as  to  have  a  very  unprofitable  effect 
upon  the  honeycrop.  The  thing  I  am  after  is  profitable  preven¬ 
tion. 


NO  DELIGHT  IN  SWARMS. 

I  have  read  of  the  great  delight  felt  by  the  beekeeper  at  the 
sight  of  an  issuing  swarm,  the  bees  whirling  and  swirling  in 
delirious  joy,  but  such  things  do  not  appeal  to  me.  I  do  not 
like  swarming.  I  never  did.  I  don’t  think  I  ever  shall.  In  my 
many  years  of  beekeeping  experience,  I  think  I  never  looked 


FIFTY-  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


163 


upon  the  issuing  of  a  swarm  with  feeling’s  other  than  those  akin 
to  pain,  unless  it  might  be  the  first  swarm  I  ever  had. 

BAD  MANNERS  OF  SWARMS. 

I  am  not  an  expert  at  hiving  swarms.  They  don’t  act  nicely 
for  me.  After  I  have  climbed  a  tree  with  laborious  pains  and 
shaken  down  a  swarm  with  a  hive  under  it  at  just  the  right 
place,  the  swarm  instead  of  entering  in  a  well-mannered  sort  of 
style  will  just  as  like  as  not  keep  flying  back  every  time  it  is 
shaken  down,  unless  it  should  take  it  into  its  head  to  give  me 
more  exercise  by  taking  another  tree.  I  got  a  Manum  swarm- 
catcher,  but  I  do  not  remember  that  I  ever  used  it  with  success. 
One  day  when  I  was  trying  to  use  it,  J.  T.  Calvert,  the  energetic 
business  man  of  The  A.  I.  Root  Co.,  was  here.  He  helped  me. 
He  made  a  catcher  of  his  hands  and  put  the  bees  in  the  catcher 
by  main  strength.  But  they  wouldn’t  stay  “  catehed,”  and  they 
didn’t.  So  I  don’t  like  swarming,  even  if  I  didn’t  think  it  inter¬ 
fered  with  the  honey  crop. 

WHY  DO  BEES  SWARM  f 

Upon  no  other  subject  connected  with  beekeeping  have  1 
studied  so  much,  tried  so  many  plans,  or  made  so  many  failures, 
as  with  regard  to  prevention  of  swarming.  If  I  knew  all  about 
just  what  makes  a  colony  swarm,  I  would  be  in  better  shape  to 
use  preventive  measures;  but  I  don’t  know  all  about  it.  Of 
course  I  know  that  want  of  room  and  want  of  ventilation  may 
hasten  swarming,  and  possibly  some  other  thing’s  of  that  kind ; 
but  after  all  there  is  a  good  deal  of  mystery  about  the  whole 
affair. 

VENTILATION  AND  ROOM. 

I  think  it  is  of  some  use  to  take  pains  to  see  that  the  bees 
are  never  cramped  for  room.  I  believe  that  raising  the  hive  on 
blocks  %  of  an  inch  or  more  is  a  good  thing.  It  is  also  a  good 
thing  to  rear  queens  from  stock  that  has  shown  little  inclination 
to  swarming.  Indeed,  with  room  enough  and  ventilation  enough 
it  is  possible  that  bees  would  never  swarm.  Some  one  will  say 
to  me  that  bees  may  swarm  with  a  hogshead  of  room.  Yes,  but 


164 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG-  THE  BEES 


the  combs  may  be  in  such  condition  that  the  queen  will  be 
cramped  for  room,  even  in  a  hogshead. 

NON-SWARMING  PILES. 

For  a  good  many  years  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  having 
in  each  apiary  one  or  more  colonies  whose  hives  were  kept  as  a 


Fig.  55 — Heartsease. 


sort  of  storehouse  where  extra  frames  of  brood  or  honey  could 
be  put,  to  be  drawn  from  as  occasion  required,  but  often  there 
has  been  no  drawing,  and  these  “  piles  ”  have  grown  to  be  four 
or  five  stories  high  with  an  immense  force  of  bees.  I  never 
knew  one  of  them  to  swarm.  But  the  ventilation  was  as  im¬ 
mense  as  the  force  of  bees,  for  each  story  had  an  entrance  of 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


165 


good  size,  arid  perhaps  the  superabundance  of  ventilation  was 
(he  secret  of  their  not  swarming. 

YOUNG  QUEENS  AND  SWARMING. 

It  was  said  that  colonies  with  queens  of  the  current  year’s 
rearing  would  not  swarm,  and  one  year  I  supplied  all  the  colo¬ 
onies  of  one  apiary  with  young  queens  about  the  beginning  of 
the  honey  harvest.  It  didn’t  work. 

Once  when  a  colony  swarmed,  and  returned  to  its  hive,  I 
removed  its  queen  and  gave  it  a  queen  that  I  think  had  not  been 
laying  more  than  two  or  three  days.  Within  three  days  that 
queen  came  out  with  the  swarm.  It  seems  the  condition  of  the 
colony  has  more  to  do  with  the  case  than  the  condition  of  the 
queen.  C.  J.  H.  Gravenhorst,  late  editor  of  Deutsche  lllustrierte 
Bienenzeitung,  gives  what  I  think  is  the  truth  about  young 
queens  and  swarming:  A  given  colony  will  not  swarm  with  a 
queen  of  this  year  if  the  queen  was  reared  in  this  colony ;  if 
reared  elsewhere  it  may  swarm.  Why  that  difference  he  did 
not  know.  But  some  have  claimed  exceptions  to  this  rule. 

TAKING  TWO  FRAMES  OF  BROOD  WEEKLY. 

One  season  I  kept  eight  brood-combs  in  the  hive,  and  every 
week  or  ten  days  took  out  two  of  the  central  combs,  replacing 
them  with  foundation  or  empty  combs.  This  was  to  give  the 
queen  so  much  room  that  there  should  be  no  desire  to  swarm. 
It  was  successful  in  most  cases,  but  there  were  too  many  excep¬ 
tions  to  make  the  plan  reliable. 

TAKING  AWAY  ALL  BROOD. 

Afterward  I  carried  the  same  thing  to  its  extreme  limit  in 
a  good  many  cases,  taking  away  all  the  brooch  One  frame  of 
brood,  however,  was  left  for  two  or  three  days,  perhaps  a  week, 
for  fear  the  bees  would  be  discouraged  and  desert  an  entirely 
empty  hive.  This  one  frame  of  brood  was  then  taken  away 
because  it  was  the  common  thing  for  the  bees  to  start  queen- 
cells  on  it.  Yet  it  is  just  possible  that  no  swarming  would  have 
taken  place,  in  spite  of  the  queen-cells. 


166 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


FORCED  SWARMING. 

This  plan  has  come  into  great  prominence  lately  under  the 
name  of  forced,  shaken,  or  brushed  swarms.  Gravenhorst,  the 
great  German  authority,  practiced  and  advocated  it  in  the  seven- 
lies  of  the  last  century.  L.  Stachelhausen  was  earnest  in  his 
advocacy  of  the  plan  in  this  country,  and  E.  R.  Root,  editor  of 
Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  took  it  up  with  great  enthusiasm. 
Probably  a  good  many  had  done  more  or  less  at  it  independent¬ 
ly,  for  it  would  naturally  suggest  itself  that  taking  away  all  the 
brood  would  leave  a  colony  in  much  the  same  condition  as  if 
they  had  swarmed;  and  in  actual  practice  most  of  those  who 
had  tried  the  plan  have  found  bees  no  more  inclined  to  swarm 
after  it  than  after  natural  swarming. 

FORCED  VERSUS  NATURAL  SWARMING. 

Many  have  found  the  plan  a  material  advance  over  natural 
swarming.  One  very  great  advantage  is  sufficient  to  commend 
it;  the  beekeeper  is  master  of  the  situation,  and  is  not  dependent 
upon  the  whims  of  the  bees  as  to  when  they  shall  swarm — an 
inestimable  boon  to  those  who  have  out-apiaries,  and  indeed  to 
any  one  who  does  not  wish  the  trouble  of  watching  for  swarms. 

STRONGER  FORCE  IN  FORCED  SWARMING. 

It  also  gives  the  beekeeper  control  over  the  number  of  bees 
that  shall  remain  with  the  swarm.  In  natural  swarming  there 
may  be  too  few  bees  go  with  the  swarm  for  best  results  in 
storing,  while  there  may  still  be  not  enough  for  any  hope  of 
good  work  in  the  parent  colony,  with  a  possibility  of  this  latter 
force  being  still  further  divided  by  after-swarms.  In  the  case 
of  a  forced  swarm,  all  the  bees  may  be  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
old  stand  except  merely  enough  to  care  for  the  brood  which  is 
taken  away.  This  brood  may  then  be  put  on  a  new  stand,  and 
with  the  addition  of  a  queen  or  a  queen-cell  allowed  to  start  out 
on  its  career  as  an  independent  colony. 

SHAKING  OFF  ALL  BEES. 

Or  the  forced  swarm  may  be  made  still  stronger  by  giving 
it  all  the  bees,  and  distributing  the  brood  to  nuclei,  wTeak  colo- 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


167 


nies,  or  wherever  it  will  do  most  good.  In  no  case,  however, 
would  it  be  a  prudent  thing  in  this  locality  to  follow  the  recom¬ 
mendation  of  some,  by  putting  the  brood  on  a  new  stand  with¬ 
out  any  bees,  trusting  to  the  warmth  of  the  weather  to  hatch  out 
young  bees  fast  enough  to  care  for  the  brood.  If  such  a  colony 
— if  you  can  call  it  a  colony — should  not  fall  a  prey  to  the  rob¬ 
bers,  there  would  in  most  eases  be  a  serious  loss  of  brood  from 
starvation  and  chilling. 


Fig.  56 — Queen-excluder. 


NO  FORCED  SWARMING  TILL  QUEEN-CELLS  STARTED. 

In  no  case  did  I  practice  this  forced  swarming  till  I  found 
by  the  presence  of  queen-cells  that  the  bees  were  thinking  of 
swarming.  There  would  be  less  labor  in  the  long  run  (suppos¬ 
ing  that  all  were  to  be  swarmed  sooner  or  later),  to  do  up  the 
whole  business  at  a  suitable  time,  without  waiting  for  the  bees 
to  take  the  initiative.  Indeed,  conditions  may  be  such  in  some 
localities  that  there  might  be  a  loss  to  wait  for  queen-cells. 

But  the  harvests  here  are  such  that  it  is  usually  better  to 
have  swarming  delayed.  Moreover,  a  good  many  of  my  colo¬ 
nies,  if  let  alone,  will  go  through  the  entire  season  without 


168 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


attempting  to  swarm,  and  such  colonies  are  the  very  ones  that 
give  the  best  yields,  and  forced  swarming  would  be  practiced 
upon  them  only  at  a  loss. 

DISADVANTAGE  OF  FORCED  SWARMING. 

With  all  the  advantage  forced  swarming  has  over  natural 
swarming,  it  still  leaves  something  to  be  desired.  As  already 
said,  those  colonies  which  hold  their  force  intact  throughout  the 
entire  season  are  the  ones  that  give  the  best  results.  It  is  true 
that  in  forced  swarming  the  entire  force  of  bees  may  be  left  on 
the  old  stand,  but  there  are  thousands  of  prospective  bees  in  the 
brood  taken  away.  If  you  take  away  that  brood  to-day,  you 
are  taking  away  the  bees  of  tomorrow,  and  of  twenty  more  days 
to  come. 

“  But  the  bees  that  emerge  to-morrow  do  not  emerge  as 
field-bees,  and  will  not  be  field-bees  till  they  are  sixteen  days 
old.  If  the  harvest  closes  in  sixteen  days  the  additional  force 
will  only  be  a  lot  of  useless  consumers.”  While  the  first  part  of 
your  statement  may  be  true  enough,  I  cannot  say  as  much  for 
the  second. 

BEES  DO  THE  WORK  MOST  NEEDED. 

While  the  bees  that  emerge  to-morrow  may  do  no  field-work 
for  sixteen  days,  they  begin  housework  at  a  very  tender  age — 
housework  that  would  have  to  be  continued  by  older  bees  if 
this  brood  were  taken  away.  As  fast  as  one  of  these  young 
bees  is  ready  to  begin  housework,  it  takes  the  place  of  an  older 
bee,  which  can  now  go  afield.  I  know  that,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  different  departments  of  work  are  done  by  bees  of  certain 
ages,  but  I  also  know  that  bees  accommodate  themselves  to 
circumstances.  I  have  seen  bees  at  five  days  old  carrying  in 
pollen  because  there  were  no  older  bees  in  the  hive  to  perform 
that  duty,  and  we  all  know  that  in  early  spring  nursing  and 
housework  are  done  by  bees  several  months  old. 

So  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  at  least  to  a  certain  extent 
the  necessities  of  the  case  rather  than  the  matter  of  absolute  age 
decides  what  duties  a  bee  shall  perform;  and  the  logical  con¬ 
clusion  from  that  is  that  the  larger  force  of  bees  we  have  in  a 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


169 


hive  the  more  storing  we  shall  have  even  if  a  good  many  of  the 
bees  be  quite  young. 

Without,  perhaps,  giving  any  satisfactory  reason  for  it,  I 
am  also  quite  of  the  opinion  that  better  work  is  generally  done 
when  bees  are  allowed  to  go  right  along  rearing  brood  at  their 
own  sweet  will;  for  toward  the  close  of  the  harvest  they,  of  their 
own  accord,  curtail  work  in  that  direction. 


Fig.  57 — Folding  Sections. 

NON-SWARMING  PREFERRED  TO  FORCED. 

While  I  yield  to  no  one  in  my  appreciation  of  the  advan¬ 
tages  of  forced  swarming  over  natural  swarming,  I  believe  that 
the  advantages  of  no  swarming  whatever  over  forced  swarming 
are  as  great  as  the  advantages  of  forced  over  natural  swarming. 

So  you  will  hardly  blame  me  if  instead  of  resting  content 
with  forced  swarming  I  continue  to  pursue  that  will-o’-the-wisp 
— in  the  opinion  of  many — non-swarming. 

KEEPING  COLONIES  QUEENLESS. 

The  next  season  after  practicing  the  removal  of  two  frames 
of  brood,  I  settled  upon  a  plan  which  I  felt  pretty  sure  would 


170 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


prevent  the  possibility  of  swarming.  It  was  a  no  less  radical 
measure  than  to  keep  the  colony  queenless.  I  reasoned  that  as 
I  had  never  had  a  queen  hatched  inside  of  eleven  days  from  the 
time  the  queen  was  taken  away,  or  from  the  time  the  bees 
started  queen-cells,  the  colony  was  safe  from  swarming  if  once 
in  ten  days  I  took  away  their  brood  and  gave  them  fresh;  also, 
that  it  was  only  bees  over  two  weeks  old  that  worked  in  the 
field ;  add  to  this  the  three  weeks  that  it  took  from  the  egg  to  the 
full-fledged  worker,  and  it  was  five  weeks  or  more  from  the 
time  the  egg  was  laid  till  the  bee  became  a  gatherer.  Clearly, 
then,  only  such  bees  as  came  from  eggs  laid  five  weeks  or  more 
before  the  close  ef  the  honey  harvest  were  available  as  gatherers. 
Why  not  have  the  colony  queenless  during  this  five  weeks'?  So 
I  took  away  the  queen,  leaving  in  the  hive  three  combs,  one  of 
which  contained  eggs  and  brood  in  all  stages,  the  other  two 
containing  nothing  from  which  queen-cells  could  be  started. 

Once  in  ten  days  the  comb  of  young  brood  with  its  queen- 
cells  was  taken  away  and  a  fresh  one  given  them,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  five  weeks,  which  was  about  the  close  of  the  harvest, 
the  queen  was  returned. 


NOT  A  SUCCESS. 

As  a  preventive  of  swarming,  it  was  a  complete  success. 
Not,  one  colonv  thus  treated  swarmed ;  how  could  it  ?  As  a 
means  of  securing  a  large  crop,  I  think  it  was  an  egregious 
failure;  although  I  can  hardly  tell  with  great  definiteness,  the 
season  itself  being  a  failure.  Possibly  the  absence  of  the  queen 
itself  had  something  to  do  with  lessening  their  stores,  but  I 
doubt  it.  But  when  all  combs  of  brood  but  one  were  taken 
away,  a  large  force  of  prospective  bees  were  taken  away  that 
would  have  hatched  out  in  the  next  twenty-one  days. 

If  I  had  allowed  four  or  five  frames  of  brood,  changing 
every  ten  days,  the  result  might  have  been  quite  different. 
Moreover,  the  one  frame  they  did  have  was,  for  the  most  part, 
filled  with  brood  so  young,  that  little  or  none  of  it  hatched  while 
in  the  hive.  If  I  should  try  any  thing  in  the  same  line  again, 
I  should  keep  four  or  five  frames  in  the  hive,  and  this  should 
be  mainly  brood  well  advanced  so  that  much  of  it  would  hatch 
out  to  replenish  the  wasting  numbers. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


171 


KEEPING  QUEENS  CAGED. 

Success  was  reported  by  others  with  the  plan  of  keeping 
queens  caged  in  the  hive  during  part  or  the  whole  of  the  har¬ 
vest,  and  although  I  tried  it  on  a  large  scale  there  was  no  case 
of  success  with  me. 

FASTENING  YOUNG  QUEENS  IN. 

The  good  old-fashioned  way  of  managing  after-swarms  was 
to  return  them  as  fast  as  they  came  out.  This  gave  the  young 


Fig.  58 — Movable  Shade. 

queens  a  chance  to  fight  it  out  till  only  one  was  left,  and  when 
only  one  was  left  there  would  be  no  more  swarming.  So  I 
planned  to  let  the  young  queens  fight  it  out  without  the  trouble 
of  returning  swarms.  I  put  a  queen-excluder  between  the  bot¬ 
tom-board  and  hive,  so  that  no  queen  could  get  out.  As  no 
queen  could  get  out  no  swarm  could  leave.  When  the  young 
queens  emerged  they  could  settle  their  little  differences  to  suit 
themselves  till  only  one  queen  was  left.  I  would  keep  track  of 
what  was  going  on  inside  the  hives  sufficiently  to  take  away  the 
excluder  after  all  but  one  queen  had  been  put  out  of  the  way, 


172 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


so  the  young  queen  could  go  out  on  her  wedding-trip.  The 
thing  was  so  certain  to  work  that  I  spent  $37.50  for  queen- 
excluders  to  put  the  plan  in  practice. 

SWARMING  GALORE. 

In  due  time  when  queen-cells  were  sealed  the  swarms  began 
to  issue.  Then  they  returned.  Then  they  came  out  next  day. 
Then  they  returned  again.  After  doing  more  or  less  of  this,  the 
time  came  when  the  young  queens  began  to  emerge.  Business 
became  lively.  Swarming  once  a  day  did  not  always  satisfy 
them.  The  number  of  issues  in  a  day  became  such  that  several 
swarms  would  be  out  at  a  time,  and  they  were  not  at  all  partic¬ 
ular  to  keep  separate.  Neither  were  they  as  methodical  as 
prime  swarms  about  returning  to  their  own  hives.  Almost  anj^ 
hive  seemed  to  suit  them  providing  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
noise  at  the  entrance,  and  when  swarming  got  well  under  way 
for  the  day  there  were  plenty  of  hives  with  noise  at  the  en¬ 
trance.  Whether  the  excluders  leaked  queens,  or  whatever  may 
have  been  the  reason,  there  were  some  cases  of  young  queens 
being  out,  and  when  there  was  a  young  queen  in  a  swarm  there 
was  no  telling  how  many  swarms  would  unite  with  it. 

ABNORMAL  BEHAVIOR. 

After  a  swarm  had  been  balked  in  its  efforts  a  number  of 
times  there  seemed  to  be  a  reckless  disregard  in  a  good  many 
cases  as  to  the  propriety  of  returning  when  they  had  had  plenty 
of  time  to  discover  that  no  young  queen  had  come  out  with 
them,  and  sometimes  they  would  settle  and  remain  clustered  for 
half  a  day,  perhaps  several  swarms  in  the  cluster.  Nothing  so 
very  bad  about  that,  if  I  had  only  been  entirely  sure  that  some 
time  they  would  return ;  but  when  I  stood  gazing  on  a  bunch  of 
bees  as  big  as  my  body  when  I’m  in  best  condition,  and  medi¬ 
tated  upon  the  chance  of  there  being  a  young  queen  in  the 
bunch  to  incite  them  to  sail  off  into  the  ethereal  blue — well,  it 
was  not  the  sort  of  meditation  most  conducive  to  composure  of 
mind. 

Inside  of  the  hive  the  program  as  laid  down  was  pretty 
generally  carried  out;  at  the  proper  time  the  excluder  was 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


173 


removed,  and  in  due  time  the  young  queen  was  laying.  The 
plan  is  a  good  one  if  one  could  only  induce  the  bees  to  refrain 
from  swarming  out  until  only  one  young  queen  is  left  in  the 
hive.  I  could  not  induce  them  to  do  that. 

REARING  QUEEN  IN  “  PUT-UP.” 

It  is  not  necessary  to  tell  of  all  the  plans  that  were  tried. 
One  was  finally  hit  upon  that  proved  to  be  quite  satisfactory, 
so  far  as  tried.  When  the  presence  of  well-advanced  queen-cells 


Fig.  59 — Brood  of  Laying  Workers. 

showed  that  a  colony  was  bent  on  swarming,  all  but  one  or  two 
frames  of  brood  were  taken  from  the  hive  and  put  in  another 
hive  that  was  “  put-up  ”  on  top,  of  course  having  no  communi¬ 
cation  with  the  bees  below.  In  the  old  hive  below  the  old  queen 
was  sometimes  left,  and  sometimes  the  bees  were  left  without  any 
queen;  but  in  either  case  care  was  taken  that  no  queen-cell  was 
left  below,  and  ten  days  later  search  was  made  for  queen-cells 
below,  or  else  the  brood  was  exchanged  for  brood  from  a  colony 
where  there  was  no  danger  of  queen-cells,  and  the  old  queen 
was  removed.  To  the  u  put-up  ”  was  given,  at  the  time  of  put¬ 
ting  up,  a  virgin  queen  or  a  ripe  queen-cell,  and  as  soon  as  the 


174 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


young  queen  was  laying  the  old  hive  was  taken  away  and  the 
“  put-up  ”  hive  was  put  down  in  its  place.  Thus  the  whole 
force  of  the  colony  was  kept  together,  there  was  a  young  queen 
of  the  current  year’s  rearing,  practically  reared  in  the  hive,  and 
that  colony  was  past  the  anxiety  for  the  season.  Some,  how¬ 
ever,  say  that  such  a  queen  will  swarm  with  them. 

GETTING  BEES  TO  DESTROY  CELLS. 

I  said  the  brood  was  put  up,  but  said  nothing  about  the 
bees  or  the  -queen-cells.  No  attention  was  paid  to  the  queen- 
cells,  and  about  half  the  bees  were  shaken  off  the  combs — 
perhaps  more  than  half.  Just  how  many  bees  to  leave  in  the 
“  put-up  ”  hive  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  gauge.  If  too  few 
there  would  be  chilled  brood.  If  too  many  the  young  queen 
would  leave  with  a  swarm.  Of  course  the  latter  danger  could 
be  avoided  by  destroying  all  queen-cells  in  the  “  put-up,”  but 
that  would  make  more  work,  and  if  there  are  few  enough  bees 
all  superfluous  cells  will  be  destroyed  by  the  bees  themselves, 
and  there  will  be  no  danger  of  swarming. 

NUCLEUS  TO  PREVENT  SWARMING. 

A  modification  of  the  plan  sometimes  used  was  to  take  a 
nucleus  from  somewhere  else  and  put  in  the  place  of  the  colony. 
But  in  this  case  the  colony  was  made  queenless  two  or  three 
days  in  advance.  Either  plan  left  the  colony  without  any 
diminution  of  its  forces,  and  with  no  very  great  check  to  its 
work,  and  these  plans  might  have  been  continued  if  it  had  not 
been  that  I  struck  upon  a  plan  that  seemed  equally  effective 
but  quite  a  little  easier.  This  was  at  first  called  the  foundation 
plan,  and  afterward  the  excluder  plan.  Before  speaking  of 
this,  however,  it  will  be  well  to  speak  of  the  preliminary  work, 
which  is  the  same  for  all  colonies,  whether  the  after  treatment 
be  on  the  “  put-up  ”  plan  or  some  other  plan 

PRELIMINARY  WORK. 

As  soon  as  colonies  become  strong  and  are  working  busily, 
we  begin  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  queen-cells.  This  generally 
will  not  be  till  the  bees  are  at  work  on  clover  bloom,  although 
it  may  happen  in  some  seasons  that  preparation  for  swarming 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


175 


begins  during  the  last  of  fruit-bloom.  Of  late  years  dandelion 
has  become  so  important  that  there  is  a  possibility  it  may  start 
swarming.  Whether  it  be  in  apple  or  clover  bloom,  we  begin 
to  examine  some  of  the  strongest  colonies  to  see  if  any  prepara¬ 
tions  for  swarming  are  made.  If  we  find  none  in  the  strongest 
colonies  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  look  through  the  rest. 
When,  however,  we  find  one  or  more  queen-cells  with  an  egg  in 
each,  then  it  is  time  to  begin  a  systematic  canvas  of  all  colonies, 
and  to  keep  it  up  in  all  so  long  as  we  continue  to  find  queen - 


Fig.  60 — Top  and  Bottom  Starters  in  Section. 

cells  in-  any,  except  in  a  case  where  a  colony  has  already  been 
treated  or  has  treated  itself  in  such  way  that  it  need  not  be 
expected  to  swarm. 

COLONIES  THAT  DO  NOT  NEED  WATCHING. 

In  struggling  with  the  swarming  problem,  there  are  a  few 
tilings  that  may  be  relied  upon  with  some  degree  of  certainty. 
A  swarm  that  has  been  hived  in  an  empty  hive  this  season  will 
not  send  forth  a  swarm  this  year,  with  rare  exceptions.  Equally 
safe  from  swarming  is  a  colony  whose  queen  has  been  removed 


176 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


and  the  colony  allowed  to  rear  a  new  queen,  provided  only  one 
queen  is  allowed  to  mature.  Also  a  colony  kept  queenless  about 
10  days  and  then  given  a  laying  queen  of  the  current  year’s 
rearing.  Colonies  that  do  not  come  under  either  of  these  heads 
will  need  watching  until  the  time  comes  when  bees  have  given 
up  starting  cells  in  all  colonies. 

LOOKING  FOR  QUEEN-CELLS. 

We  plan  to  go  through  each  colony  about  once  in  ten  days 
to  look  for  queen-cells.  I  say  about  once  in  ten  days,  for  it  is 
not  always  possible  to  be  exact.  It  may  happen  that  one  or 
two  days  in  succession  will  be  rainy,  and  then  the  ten  days 
become  eleven  or  twelve.  Or,  it  may  be  that  on  account  of  some 
interference  with  our  work  that  we  can  see  in  advance,  we  may 
think  it  best  to  shorten  the  ten  days  to  nine  or  less. 

Suppose  we  go  through  a  certain  colony  and  find  no  queen¬ 
cell  with  as  much  as  an  egg  in  it.  The  next  time  around  it  may 
be  in  the  same  condition,  and  so  it  may  continue  throughout  the 
season.  In  that  case  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  with  that 
colony  beyond  the  examination  every  ten  days  but  to  let  it  alone 
and  be  thankful.  Such  cases  are  not  plentiful  as  I  should  like. 

but  I  think  they  are  on  the  increase. 

*/ 

DESTROYING  EGGS. 

Suppose,  however,  that  upon  one  of  our  visits  we  find  one 
or  more  cells  containing  eggs.  We  destroy  the  incipient  cells 
by  mashing  them,  and  in  the  record-book  write  after  the  date, 
“  keg,”  a  contraction  for  the  expressive,  if  not  very  elegant 
entry,  u  killed  eggs.”  It  is  possible  that  upon  the  next  visit  we 
may  find  no  more  queen-cells  started,  and  that  may  be  the  last 
of  them  for  the  season.  So  long  as  we  find  only  eggs,  we  do 
nothing  more  than  to  destroy  them. 

Generally,  however,  when  eggs  are  found  in  cells,  the  next 
visit  will  find  cells  with  grubs  well  advanced.  When  large  grubs 
are  found  in  cells,  then  the  colony  must  be  treated. 

As  already  mentioned,  an  easier  plan  than  the  ‘‘  put-up  ” 
plan  was  struck  upon,  and  for  a  time  that  had  a  run.  It  may 
be  called  the  excluder  plan,  and  I  will  now  give  it  as  we  first 
practiced  it. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


177 


EXCLUDER  PLAN  OF  TREATMENT. 

We  find  and  cage  the  queen,  destroy  all  queen-cells,  remove 
the  hive  from  its  stand,  and  put  in  its  place  a  hive  containing 
three  or  four  frames  of  foundation.  The  foundation  is  on  one 
side  of  the  hive  with  a  dummy  next  to  it.  The  rest  of  the  hive 
is  left  vacant.  Upon  this  hive  is  put  a  queen-excluder,  and  over 
the  excluder  the  old  hive  with  its  brood  and  bees,  and  over  this 
the  supers  as  before  (Fig.  66).  Then  the  queen  is  run  in  at 


Fig.  61 — Cutting  Foundation. 

the  entrance  of  the  lower  hive,  and  the  colony  is  left  for  a  week 
or  ten  days.  Ten  days  is  safer. 

At  the  end  of  the  week,  or  as  soon  after  that  time  as  we 
can  conveniently  reach  it  we  take  away  the  lower  story  with  its 
excluder,  and  put  back  the  queen  in  the  old  hive,  which  is  left 
on  the  stand.  When  we  remove  the  lower  story  with  its  three  or 
four  frames  that  a  week  before  contained  foundation,  there  will 
be  less  advance  made  in  those  frames  than  you  would  be  likely 
to  suppose.  The  vacant  part  will  still  be  vacant,  the  amount  of 
honey  will  be  very  small,  generally  only  one  or  two  frames  will 
have  been  occupied  by  the  queen,  and  possibly  nothing  beyond 


178 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


eggs  will  be  found.  If  larvae  are  found,  they  will  be  still  small, 
and  not  in  large  quantity.  It  appears  from  this  that  there  is 
some  sulking  for  a  time  on  the  part  of  the  queen,  or  else  that 
the  bees  are  rather  slow  to  prepare  the  foundation  for  her.  It 
is  possible  that  this  interim  without  any  laying  may  be  an 
important  part  of  the  treatment.  I  don’t  know. 

SOME  FAILURES. 

At  any  rate,  in  the  first  two  seasons  of  using  the  plan,  there 
was  no  case  of  any  colony  making  any  further  preparation  for 
swarming  after  being  thus  treated.  The  third  season  (1902) 
every  thing  did  not  work  so  smoothly,  but  possibly  the  treat¬ 
ment  was  not  fairly  administered  in  all  cases.  Some  of  the 
colonies  did  not  take  kindly  to  the  foundation,  and  in  a  few 
cases  it  looked  as  if  they  might  have  swarmed  out  rather  than 
to  use  the  foundation.  In  one  case  they  built  comb  and  started 
a  brood-nest  in  the  vacant  part,  leaving  the  foundation  un¬ 
touched.  But  there  was  some  excuse  for  this  as  the  foundation 
was  weather-beaten  and  hard. 

WORKING  TOWARD  NON-SWARMING. 

Of  course  it  is  no  little  work  to  go  through  the  colonies 
every  ten  days  up  to  the  time  of  treatment,  and  I  think  it  likely 
that  it  would  work  all  right  to  treat  every  colony  on  the  exclud¬ 
er  plan,  or  some  other  plan,  early  in  the  honey-flow,  whether 
they  had  grubs  in  queen-cells  or  not.  But  there  are  some  colo¬ 
nies  that  will  go  through  the  whole  season  with  never  a  gTub  in 
a  queen-cell.  Possibly  one  or  more  eggs  may  be  found  in  queen- 
cells  at  each  of  several  successive  visits;  possibly  eggs  may  be 
found  at  one  visit,  and  none  at  succeeding  visits.  And  exactly 
these  colonies  that  never  start  cells,  or  are  willing  to  be  thwarted 
in  it,  are  the  ones  most  likely  to  give  record-yields.  To  inter¬ 
fere  with  their  work,  even  for  a  week  in  a  slight  degree,  is  not 
desirable.  There  is  also  another  important  reason  for  allowing 
every  colony  willing  to  do  so  to  go  through  the  whole  season 
without  any  preparation  for  swarming  and  without  any  inter¬ 
ference.  I  am  trying  all  the  time  to  work  at  least  a  little 
toward  a  non-swarming  strain  of  bees,  and  if  all  colonies  were 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


179 


treated  in  advance  how  would  I  know  which  were  the  non- 
swarmers  from  which  to  choose  my  breeding  stock?  Their  care¬ 
ful  record  must  be  kept. 

EMPTY  FRAMES  USED. 

Some  time  later  a  little  change  was  made  so  as  to  make  the 
queen  better  satisfied  with  her  new  quarters.  Instead  of  put¬ 
ting  foundation  under  the  excluder,  a  brood-frame  is  put  there, 
at  one  side.  It  is  preferably  one  with  very  little  brood  in  it,  the 
object  being  merely  to  hold  the  queen  in  the  hive,  but  not  to 


Fig.  62— Little  Work-table. 


encourage  her  to  do  much  in  the  way  of  laying.  As  a  further 
discouragement  to  laying  and  comb-building  no  other  comb  is 
put  in  the  hive,  nor  even  the  least  starter  of  foundation.  Two 
or  three  other  frames  entirely  empty  are  placed  beside  the 
brood-comb.  No  dummy  is  needed.  You  might  expect  that  the 
bees  very  promptly  fill  with  comb  one  or  more  of  these  empty 
frames.  They  don’t.  At  the  end  of  a  week  or  ten  days  you 
may  find  one  frame  half  filled,  with  a  very  little  comb  in  the 
second;  perhaps  only  a  little  comb  in  the  one  frame. 

As  to  the  rest,  of  course  the  proceeding  is  just  the  same  as 
when  foundation  was  used. 


180 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


DESTROYING  QUEEN-CELLS  TO  PREVENT  SWARMING. 

Among  the  first  things  a  beginner  thinks  he  has  learned  is 
that  destroying  queen-cells  will  prevent  swarming,  and  then  he 
is  sorely  disappointed  to  find  that  he  is  mistaken  about  it.  But 
I  must  confess  that  I  have  a  good  deal  more  faith  in  it  than  I 
formerly  had.  Not  that  I  would  for  a  minute  trust  to  it  as  a 
sole  means  to  prevent  swarming.  But  I  do  know  that  in  a  good 
many  cases  it  is  efficient.  Perhaps  one  cause  of  my  change  of 
view  is  the  change  in  my  bees.  Breeding  constantly  for  im¬ 
provement  in  storing,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  preference 
to  those  least  inclined  to  swarm,  it  is  possible  that  destroying 
cells  has  more  effect  than  it  formerly  had. 

It  may  be  well  to  give  some  examples,  taking  just  as  they 
come  in  order  some  colonies  that  needed  no  other  treatment  to 
prevent  swarming.  I  take  them  from  the  year  1908,  one  of  the 
best  honey  years.  The  first  one  I  come  to  had  a  two-year-old 
queen,  and  June  23  I  destroyed  a  grub  in  just  one  queen-cell. 
No  other  queen-cell  was  started.  If  that  had  not  been  destroyed, 
I  suppose  the  colony  would  have  swarmed,  and  that  would  have 
lessened  the  number  of  sections  produced,  which  was  181,  be¬ 
sides  finishing  up  some  “go-backs.”  The  next  had  a  three-vear- 
old  queen,  and  gave  244  sections.  June  23  one  egg  in  a  cell  was 
destroyed,  and  that  was  all  for  the  season.  The  queen  was 
superseded  after  August  8.  The  next  had  a  two-year-old  queen, 
and  gave  276  sections.  I  destroyed,  June  15,  one  egg  in  a 
queen-cell,  and  June  24  one  grub.  The  next  had  a  queen  of  the 
previous  year  and  gave  100  sections.  It  never  had  even  an  egg 
in  a  queen-cell  the  whole  season.  The  next  had  a  yearling 
queen,  and  gave  145  sections,  besides  having  taken  from  it,  in 
May,  three  brood  with  adhering  bees.  Not  an  egg  in  a  queen¬ 
cell.  The  next  ha.d  a  yearling  queen,  and  gave  211  sections.  It 
had  one  egg  in  a  queen-cell  June  6,  also  July  27  and  August  6. 
That  may  be  enough  to  show  that  at  least  in  some  cases  destroy¬ 
ing  cells  was  worth  while.  Perhaps  one  colony  in  three  will 
behave  thus  well. 

THOROUGH  WORK  AT  KILLING  CELLS. 

Some  have  said  that  if  a  frame  or  two  were  lifted  from  the 
center  of  the  hive  and  no  cells  found  in  them,  there  was  no  need 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


181 


to  look  further.  No  such  slipshod  work  will  answer  here.  Every 
comb  in  the  hive  must  be  carefully  examined.  It  may  be  that 
not  a  cell  is  found  in  the  hive  except  upon  the  very  last  comb 
lifted  out.  Neither  will  it  do  to  examine  a  comb  with  all  its  bees 
upon  it.  The  bees  must  be  shaken  off,  so  that  the  cells  can  be 
plainly  seen.  If  at  the  previous  overhauling  eggs  or  cells  were 
killed,  or  if  for  any  other  reason  it  is  suspected  that  the  colony 
is  in  danger  of  swarming,  then  the  queen  is  found,'  and  the 
comb  upon  which  she  is  found  is  put  into  an  empty  hive  stand¬ 
ing  near  before  the  bees  are  shaken  off  the  combs.  If  any 
combs  were  shaken  first,  it  would  make  it  difficult  to  find  the 
queen. 


DEQUEENING  TREATMENT. 

Latterly  no  one  plan  of  treatment  is  followed  .exclusively. 
It  may  be  the  “  put-up  ”  or  the  excluder  plan,  or  it  may  be 
dequeening  for  about  10  days.  This  dequeening  treatment  is 
the  one  most  generally  used.  The  queen  is  removed,  the  queen- 
cells  are  killed,  and  in  10  days  the  queen-cells  are  again  de¬ 
stroyed  and  their  own  queen  returned,  or  another  queen  given. 
Sometimes  a  queenlessness  of  a  week  seems  to  do  as  well.  At 
any  rate,  a  queen  in  a  provisioned  cage  may  be  given  in  a  week, 
for  it  will  be  a  little  time  before  she  is  out  ready  to  lay.  Possi¬ 
bly,  instead  of  waiting  10  days  and  giving  a  laying  queen,  a 
ripe  queen-cell  or  a  newly  born  virgin  is  given  at  the  time  of 
removing  the  old  queen.  This  has  the  advantage  that  if  there 
is  any  thing  like  European  foul  brood  in  the  case,  it  may  be 
considered  somewhat  in  the  light  of  a  cure.  It  has  the  disad¬ 
vantage  that  my  assistant  is  quite  strongly  opposed  to  the  idea 
of  having  a  virgin  in  a  honey-hive,  lest  she  should  take  it  into 
her  head  to  get  the  colony  to  swarm  out,  a  thing  that  may 
happen  once  in  a  great  while  in  reality,  and  in  the  imagination 
of  my  assistant  quite  frequently. 

REPLACING  WITH  BETTER  QUEEN. 

On  the  whole  perhaps  the  most  common  thing  is  to  replace 
the  removed  queen  with  a  young  laying  queen  taken  from  a  nu 
cleus.  This  will  generally  result  in  replacing  the  old  queen  with 


182 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


one  of  better  stock,  for  the  young  queen  will  be  reared  from 
best  stock.  If,  however,  the  old  queen  be  an  extra  good  one,  she 
will  be  put  into  a  nucleus  when  removed,  and  then  returned  at 
the  proper  time.  Whether  the  old  queen  be  returned  or  a  new 
one  given,  she  is  likely  to  be  given  with  a  frame  of  brood  and 
adhering  bees  from  the  nucleus,  so  there  is  no  interruption  in 
laying.  If  for  any  reason  she  is  given  in  an  introducing-cage, 
the  cage  is  thrust  into  the  entrance  of  the  hive,  in  such  way 


Fig .  63 — S up  e  r-Fi Her. 

that  the  bees  will  be  sure  to  take  care  of  it,  and  where  it  can 
be  looked  at  any  time  without  opening  the  hive.  I  am  not  sure 
but  that  a  queen  at  the  entrance  is  a  little  better  received  than 
elsewhere.  Of  course  there  might  be  a  little  danger  of  chilling 
in  a  very  cold  time. 

If  the  old  queen  is  returned  there  is  a  possibility  of  further 
attempts  at  swarming.  But  if  a  young  queen  be  given,  after 
ten  days  of  queenlessness,  that  colony  is  considered  settled  for 
the  season,  and  no  further  watch  is  kept  against  swarming. 

Somewhat  curiously,  it  is  the  common  thing,  upon  opening 
a  hive  a  week  after  giving  the  queen,  to  find  one  or  more  queen- 
cells  started.  I  don’t  know  why.  Perhaps  the  bees  have  been 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


183 


frightened  because  of  their  spell  of  queenlessness,  and  want  to 
provide  against  its  happening  again.  At  any  rate,  when  these 
cells  are  killed  they  are  not  replaced.  Possibly  the  bees  would 
destroy  them  themselves  after  finding  that  the  queen  was  settled 
to  work. 

Some  think  it  best,  when  a  queen  arrives  at  a  certain  age, 
to  replace  her  with  a  young  queen.  It  is  held  by  some  that  a 
queen  does  her  best  work  in  her  first  year,  and  that  no  queen 
should  be  allowed  to  do  a  second  year’s  work,  because  there  will 
always  be  a  gain  by  replacing  her  with  a  younger  queen.  Some 
of  the  men  that  hold  such  views,  and  practice  accordingly,  are 
such  successful  beekeepers  that  I  dare  not  say  they  are  wrong. 
Whether  it  be  a  difference  in  bees,  in  locality,  management,  or 
what  not,  I  do  not  believe  that  such  pratice  would  be  best  for 
me. 

I  am  pretty  sure  that  many  of  my  queens  do  as  good  work 
in  the  second  as  in  the  first  year,  possibly  better.  But  it  is  not 
altogether  a  question  as  to  whether  a  queen  does  as  well  or 
better  in  her  second  year,  comparing  it  with  the  first.  The 
question  is  rather  as  to  what  she  will  do  in  her  second  or  third 
year  as  compared  with  what  would  be  done  by  the  average 
young  queen  that  would  replace  her.  However  it  may  be  else¬ 
where,  the  rule  with  my  bees  is  that  a  queen  which  distinguishes 
herself  by  a  good  crop  of  honey  in  her  first  year,  will  keep 
above  the  average  as  long  as  she  lives.  And  I  can  count  on  the 
bees  superseding  her  at  the  close  of  harvest  whenever  she 
reaches  an  age  when  it  would  seem  profitable  for  me  to  replace 
her  with  a  younger  queen. 

Another  thing  may  be  worth  considering.  It  is  claimed, 
and  with  some  show  of  reason,  that  longevity  in  bees  is  an 
important  factor.  One  colony  will  be  stronger  in  bees  and 
brood  than  another  beside  it,  while  the  latter  will  store  more 
honey.  The  explanation  given  is  that  the  bees  in  the  second 
colony  are  longer  lived.  It  may  not  be  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  if  one  has  a  strain  of  bees  with  queens  which  live  to  an 
unusual  age,  that  the  workers  will  also  live  to  unusual  age.  So 
it  may  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  encourage  those  queens  which 
show  a  disposition  to  live  beyond  the  usual  span. 


184 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


On  these  accounts  it  is  my  practice  to  leave  the  matter  of 
superseding  entirely  to  the  bees  in  all  cases,  except  where  for 
some  reason  other  than  age  it  will  seem  an  improvement  to 
replace  with  a  younger  queen.  That  reason  may  be  that  the 
workers  of  a  queen  are  unusually  vicious,  that  they  do  not  seal 
their  honey  white  enough,  or  there  may  be  some  other  fault, 
but  generally  it  will  be  because  they  did  not  store  honey  enough 
the  previous  year.  When,  then,  the  colony  of  such  a  queen 
shows  persistence  in  the  matter  of  preparation  for  swarming, 
she  will  be  replaced  by  another  as  part  of  the  treatment  of  that 
colony.  But  old  age  alone  will  not  endanger  her  life. 

An  item  of  some  interest  is  the  fact  that  when  I  look 
through  the  colonies  in  the  spring  to  clip  any  queen  that  may 
have  whole  wings,  I  find  very  little  use  for  the  scissors  if  the 
previous  season  was  very  poor,  whereas  after  a  big  honey-yield 
I  generally  find  a  good  deal  of  clipping  to  do.  In  other  words, 
there  seems  to  be  more  superseding  at  the  close  of  a  good  than 
of  a  poor  year.  Has  it  only  happened  to  come  so,  or  does  a 
good  harvest  wear  out  the  queen  faster? 

THE  "  JUMBO  ”  HIVE. 

At  one  time  I  had  strong  hopes  that  by  the  use  of  a  large 
hive  with  a  large  frame  I  might  greatly  diminish,  if  not  entirely 
suppress,  swarming.  Others  reported  success  with  what  was 
called  the  Jumbo  hive.  At  Fig.  67  will  be  seen  one  of  these 
hives.  The  frame  is  2%  inches  deeper  than  the  regular  Lang- 
stroth  frame,  and  if  you  will  look  at  the  front  of  the  hive  in  the 
picture  von  will  see  that  it  is  2 inches  higher  than  t  he  eight- 
frame  dovetailed  hive  by  its  side.  The  Jumbo  has  ten  frames, 
and  the  extra  depth  makes  it  equivalent  to  a  twelve-frame 
Langstroth. 

I  put  bees  in  two  of  these  hives  in  the  home  apiary,  and 
waited  to  see  what  would  result  the  next  summer  with  much 
interest.  The  very  first  colony  to  send  out  a  swarm  was  in  one 
of  these  Jumbo  hives!  I  was  sorry,  but  it  didn’t  make  me  sick 
abed.  I  had  become  hardened  to  failures  and  disappointments 
in  following  after  the  will-o’-the-wisp — non-swarming. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


185 


PILES  OF  STORIES. 

The  problem  of  prevention  of  swarming  would  be  very 
much  easier  if  I  were  running  for  extracted  honey  instead  of 
comb.  I  am  very  much  of  the  opinion  that  I  could  pile  up 
stories  as  in  Fig.  68,  and  not  have  one  colony  in  a  hundred 
swarm,  the  fact  that  no  such  pile  ever  swarmed  for  me  confirm¬ 
ing  that  opinion ;  and  I  have  had  a  few  such  piles  every  year 
for  a  number  of  years. 

VENTILATION  TO  PREVENT  SWARMING. 

It  is  not,  I  think,  so  much  the  abundance  of  room  as  the 
abundance  of  ventilation  that  prevents  swarming,  although  the 
room  is  important.  Notice  the  opportunity  for  ventilation  in 
that  pile  in  Fig.  68.  The  entrance,  which  you  cannot  see,  is  12 
inches  wide  and  2  inches  deep.  The  second  story  is  shoved 
forward  on  the  first  story  so1  as  to  make  a  ventilating  space  of 
half  an  inch  at  the  back,  between  the  two  stories.  The  third 
story  is  shoved  back  to  make  a  space  in  front;  and  the  ventilat¬ 
ing  space  between  the  third  and  fourth  stories  is  at  the  back. 
Lastly  the  cover  is  shoved  forward  to  make  a  space  of  half  an 
inch  or  more.  Thus  you  see  there  is  a  fine  chance  for  a  free 
circulation  of  air  right  through  the  whole  pile.  Alas  that  such 
a  thing  cannot  be  used  for  comb  honey ! 

DEMAREE  PLAN. 

If  I  were  running  for  extracted  honey,  I  could  get  along 
with  little  or  no  swarming  by  following  the  plan  of  G.  W. 
Demaree.  When  the  time  comes  that  there  is  danger  of  swarm¬ 
ing,  put  into  a  second  story  all  the  frames  from  below  except 
one  containing  the  least  brood,  fill  up  the  vacancies  with  empty 
combs  or  frames  of  foundation,  put  a  queen-excluder  between 
the  two  stories,  and  leave  the  queen  in  the  lower  story.  Then 
as  the  brood  hatches  out  in  the  second  story  the  combs  will  be 
filled  with  honey  and  become  extracting-combs. 

SHAKEN  SWARM  WITHOUT  INCREASE. 

Another  plan  that  I  would  enjoy  trying  if  I  were  running 
for  extracted  honey  is  one  variation  of  forced  or  shaken  swarms. 


186 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


It  is  the  simple  plan  of  making  a  shaken  swarm,  say  from  A, 
ancl  then  piling  all  the  brood  from  A  on  another  strong  colony, 
B.  European  beekeepers  tell  us  that  with  this  accession  of 
brood  B  will  not  swarm.  S.  Simmins,  of  England,  and.  some 
others,  give  A  half  the  bees  from  B.  A  would  be  all  right  for 
comb  honey,  but  B  would  not — at  least  not  right  away — but  it 
would  be  all  right  for  extracted  honey. 

ACCIDENTAL  SWARMS. 

The  best  I  can  do  there  will  sometimes  be  what  might  be 
called  accidental  swarms.  Perhaps  a  strong  colony  has  in  some 
way  lost  its  queen  in  the  busy  season,  and  when  the  first-reared 
young  queen  emerges — if  one  is  allowed  to  emerge — there  will 
surely  be  a  swarm  issue.  Generally  such  a  thing  will  be  headed 
off  before  the  young  queen  has  a  chance  to  emerge,  but  once  in 
a  great  while  she  gets  ahead  of  me. 

Although  there  is  to  me  nothing  entrancing  in  the  sight  of 
such  a  swarm  whirling  through  the  air,  there  is  one  thing  I  do 
very  much  enjoy  in  it — it  is  the  sight  of  the  seething  mass 
hurrying  into  the  hive  when  dumped  in  front  of  it,  as  in  Fig. 
*69.  You  will  see  that  a  deep  bottom-board  has  been  placed  in 
front  of  No.  32,  on  which  the  swarm  was  dumped  (it  had  pre¬ 
viously  settled  on  a  low  plum  tree),  and  the  bees  have  flowed  all' 
over  the  sides  of  the  bottom-board,  and  also  over  the  front  of 
the  hive.  But  I  don’t  want  the  distress  of  seeing  them  pouring 
out  of  the  hive  in  a  swarm  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
them  hustle  back  into  the  same  hive  when  dumped  down  in  front 
of  it. 


TAKING  OFF  SECTIONS. 

As  fast  as  supers  are  filled  they  are  taken  off.  I  do  not 
think  I  could  be  bothered  to  take  off  each  section  as  fast  as 
finished,  putting  in  an  empty  one  to  take  its  place.  It  would 
take  too  much  time.  Neither  do  I  like  to  wait  till  every  section 
in  a  super  is  entirely  finished.  Unless  the  bees  are  crowded 
very  much,  there  will  be  some  uncapped  cells  in  the  outside 
sections  which  the  bees  will  be  very  long  in  sealing.  If  these 
are  waited  for,  the  central  sections  may  lose  a  little  of  their 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


187 


snowy  whiteness- — the  tiling  which,  perhaps,  helps  most  to  sell 
them. 

A  super  is,  then,  taken  off  when  all  but  the  outside  sections 
are  finished.  This  can  be  pretty  well  told  by  glancing  over  the 
top  of  the  super,  although  sometimes  the  sections  may  be  all 
sealed  at  the  upper  part  and  hardly  filled  below.  A  look  at  the 
under  part  of  the  upraised  super  will  decide  it.  The  sharp, 
circular  end  of  the  hive-tool  is  thrust  under  the  supers  to  pry 
apart  the  attachment  of  bee-glue. 


Fig.  64 — Load  of  Forty  Supers. 


Unless  care  is  taken,  bees  will  be  killed  when  a  super, 
which  has  just  been  taken  off,  is  put  back  again.  Sometimes 
there  may  be  so  few  bees  in  the  way  that  the  super  can  be  put 
on  quickly  without  danger.  Oftener  too  many  bees  are  in  the 
way  for  this,  so  I  put  one  end  on  its  place,  and  with  a  series  of 
rapid  up-and-down  motions  gradually  lower  the  other  end  to  its 
place.  This  gives  the  bees  time  to  get  out  of  the  way,  and  there 
are  seldom  any  crushed  by  it. 

CLOSE  OF  CLOVER  HARVEST. 

Formerly  I  took  off  all  supers  at  the  close  of  the  white- 
clover  harvest.  Of  late  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  leave  them 


188 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


on  for  the  later  flow.  I  am  not  sure  whether  this  is  wise, 
except  in  the  few  years  in  which  from  some  unknown  source 
some  exceptionally  white  sections  were  secured  at  the  Hastings 
apiary.  In  other  years  at  the  Hastings  apiary,  and  in  all  years 
at  the  other  apiaries,  the  honey  stored  during  the  cucumber 
flow  is  rather  dark  in  color,  and  is  likely  to  have  an  unpleasant 
appearance  on  the  surface,  as  if  lightly  varnished  with  bee- 
glue.  But  of  late  years  the  late  honey  has  been  improving,  both 
in  color  and  flavor.  I  don’t  know  why.  Possibly  a  greater 
proportion  of  sweet  clover  may  have  improved  the  flavor. 
Possibly,  also,  the  increase  of  heartsease  may  have  something  to 
do  with  it.  Although  I  think  my  bees  get  no  inconsiderable 
quantity  of  honey  from  cucumbers,  I  confess  I  don’t  know 
what  pure  cucumber  honey  tastes  like,  but  I  am  afraid  it  does 
not  rank  very  high  in  flavor. 

LATE  HONEY. 

As  I  said,  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  ever  wise,  except  in  the 
Hastings  apiary,  to  allow  supers  to  stay  on  after  the  white- 
clover  harvest  is  over.  True,  a  considerable  amount  of  honey 
may  be  got  in  sections  from  the  late  flow,  but  it  is  not  all  of  it 
of  the  best,  and  if  it  were  stored  in  brood-combs  and  saved  as 
extra  combs  to  be  crowded  into  the  brood-chamber  the  next  year 
before  the  beginning  of  the  harvest,  there  might  be  nearly  or 
quite  as  many  more  sections  of  white-clover  honey  stored,  to 
offset  what  was  lost  in  sections  in  the  fall. 

GETTING  BEES  OUT  OF  SECTIONS. 

For  the  purpose  of  getting  bees  out  of  sections  I  have  tried 
pretty  thoroughly  the  Porter  escape  and  other  escapes  which 
work  on  the  principle  of  allowing  the  bees  to  go  clown  out  of 
the  supers  without  the  chance  of  returning,  but  they  do  not 
work  fast  enough  to  suit  me.  When  I  go  to  an  out-apiary,  I 
always  want  to  bring  home  with  me  all  the  honey  taken  off  that 
day.  Even  at  home  I  want  it  taken  in  the  same  day  it  is  taken 
off.  I  may  want  to  go  elsewhere  the  next  morning,  and  I  don’t 
want  to  be  hindered  from  an  early  start  by  having  to  get  it  in 
before  starting.  Besides,  I  am  just  a  little  afraid  that  if  I 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


189 


should  make  a  practice  of  leaving  honey  out  over  escapes  till 
the  next  day,  some  one  none  too  scrupulous  might  learn  the 
trick  and  by  a  night  visit  save  me  the  trouble  of  taking  off  some 
of  the  honey.  So  whatever  honey  is  taken  oft  any  day  is  got 
into  the  house  before  we  get  to  bed  that  night;  for  sometimes 
it  happens  that  when  we  have  a  big  day’s  work  at  an  out-apiary 
we  do  not  get  home  till  8  o’clock  or  later. 


Fig.  65 — One-cent  Cage. 

SMOKING  BEES  DOWN. 

When  a  super  is  to  be  taken  off,  smoke  is  blown  down  into 
it  until  a  sufficient  number  of  bees  have  gone  down  out  of  it. 
What  that  sufficient  number  is  depends  upon  circumstances. 
If  it  is  early  in  the  day,  and  we  do  not  care  to  take  the  honey 
home  till  late,  there  is  no  need  to  drive  out  so  many  bees.  Other 
circumstances  may  also  make  a  difference,  and  we  “  cut  our  coat 
according  to  the  cloth.” 

SUPERS  STANDING  OPEN. 

Suppose  the  honey-flow  is  in  full  blast,  and  we  commence 
to  take  off  supers  early  in  the  day,  or  at  least  in  the  forenoon. 


190 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


At  such  a  time  there  is  little  need  to  be  very  careful  about 
robbers,  and  it  may  be  that  honey  may  stand  exposed  for  hours 
without  being  troubled  by  them.  So  when  the  super  has  been 
smoked  it  is  taken  off  and  set  on  the  ground  leaning  against  the 
hive,  the  hive-cover  is  put  on  the  remaining  supers,  and  then 
our  removed  super  is  set  on  its  end  on  top,  so  as  to  project  a 
little  over  the  side  of  the  hive.  After  a  time,  perhaps  half  an 
hour,  the  bees  are  likely  to  start  a  trail  from  the  super  over  the 
side  of  the  hive  to  join  the  bees  of  the  colony  below. 

A  number  of  supers  may  be  thus  standing  at  a  time  on 
their  respective  hives.  Sometimes  two  supers  are  taken  from 
the  same  hive,  and,  in  rare  cases,  especially  late  in  the  season, 
three. 

WATCHING  FOR  ROBBER  BEES. 

These  supers,  left  standing  on  the  hives,  however,  are  never 
left  entirely  out  of  mind,  and  a  glance  is  given  toward  them 
every  few  minutes.  If  at  any  time  bees  are  seen  flying  with 
their  heads  toward  a  super,  immediate  attention  is  given  to  the 
matter,  and  the  supers  hustled  off  the  hives.  When  the  bees  are 
nearly  out,  or  at  any  time  when  it  is  not  desirable  to  leave 
supers  standing  on  the  hives,  they  are  put  in  piles,  preferably 
not  more  than  ten  high. 

WHEN  ROBBER  BEES  TROUBLE. 

If  fear  of  robbers  does  not  allow  the  supers  to  stand 
exposed,  the  super  is  still  put  on  top  of  the  hive,  and  a  good 
many  of  the  bees  are  at  once  driven  out  by  smoke.  The  smoker 
is  held  on  the  side  toward  the  wind,  so  that  the  wind  will  help 
drive  the  smoke  between  the  sections,  and  from  time  to  time  the 
bees  are  brushed  off.  The  bee-brush  generally  used  is  the  Cogg- 
shall,  but  if  it  were  not  for  the  trouble  of  preparing  one  fresh 
every  day,  I  think  I  would  prefer  a  good-sized  bunch  of  aspara¬ 
gus,  sweet  clover,  goldenrod,  or  something  of  the  kind  tied 
together. 


MILLER  TENT-ESCAPE. 

In  piling  the  supers  a  sunny  place  is  preferred,  to  entice 
out  the  bees.  A  deep  bottom-board  is  put  on  the  ground,  a 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


191 


super  placed  on  it,  and  the  entrance  closed  with  wire  cloth  some¬ 
what  as  a  hive-entrance  is  closed  for  hauling  (Fig.  72).  Then 
over  the  super  is  thrown  what  Root’s  “  A  B  C  of  Bee  Culture  ” 
has  been  pleased  to  call  the  Miller  tent-escape  (Fig.  73).  (Later 
on  I’ll  tell  how  it’s  made.)  When  a  second  super  is  brought  to 
the  pile,  the  escape  is  kicked  off,  the  super  placed  on  the  pile 
and  the  escape  thrown  over  it.  When  the  pile  becomes  too  high 
to  kick  off  the  escape,  it  is  shoved  off  with  the  hand,  but  still 
allowed  to  fall  to  the  ground,  and  afterward  picked  up. 


Fig.  66 — Colony  at  left  treated  for  swarming. 


The  bees  can  now  make  their  exit  through  the  top  of  the 
escape  at  their  leisure,  and  from  time  to  time  those  that  have 
gathered  on  the  wire  cloth  below  are  allowed  to  escape.  Matters 
may  be  hurried  up  a  little  by  blowing  in  smoke  below.  But  this 
is  hardly  advisable,  for  the  smoke,  being  more  or  less  confined, 
is  likely  to  give  an  unpleasant  flavor  to  the  sections.  When 
there  is  abundance  of  time  for  the  bees  to  get  out  without  being 
hurried,  or  if  the  pile  is  only  five  or  six  high,  it  is  better  not  to 
have  any  opening  at  the  bottom  of  the  pile,  but  to  set  the  first 
super  on  a  flat  surface  that  admits  no  light,  or  right  on  the 
gTass. 


192 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


KEEPING  TALLY  OF  SECTIONS. 

The  number  of  the  colony  from  which  each  super  is  taken 
is  marked  in  pencil  on  one  of  the  middle  sections,  perhaps  when 
the  super  is  first  taken  from  the  hive,  certainly  before  it  is  taken 
from  the  hive  entirely.  A  board  or  a  slip  of  paper  is  kept 
where  the  supers  are  piled,  and  as  each  super  is  taken  to  the 
pile  the  number  of  the  hive  and  the  number  of  sections  in  the 


Fig.  67 — Jumbo  Hive  {at  right.) 

super  is  taken.  Occasionally  the  number  of  supers  in  the  pile 
is  counted,  so  as  to  see  whether  it  tallies  with  the  number  taken 
on  the  memorandum,  for  without  this  there  is  danger  that  some 
super  might  be  forgotten,  and  the  colony  not  have  proper  credit. 
When  convenient,  possibly  while  we  sit  resting  a  little  while 
after  the  supers  are  all  piled,  possibly  not  till  the  next  morning, 
the  numbers  on  the  memorandum  are  used  to  give  each  colon v 

CD  %j 

its  proper  credit  in  the  record-book. 

CREDITING  COLONIES. 

The  credit  to  each  colony  is  entered  over  the  first  line  that 
belongs  to  that  colony,  so  that  it  may  easily  be  seen  at  a  glance, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


193 


and  so  that  it  may  be  convenient  to  have  all  the  credit  on  one 
spot.  If  a  super  containing  24  sections  is  taken  from  a  colony, 
the  number  24  is  entered  over  its  first  line.  Then  when  another 
24  sections  is  taken  from  that  colony,  — j— 24  is  written  after  the 
first  24,  and  whatever  number  is  taken  each  time,  that  number 
is  put  down  with  the  plus  sign  preceding.  Sometimes  it  happens 
that  a  super  partly  filled  is  taken  from  one  hive  -and  put  on 
another.  Suppose  it  is  estimated  that  the  super  contains  the 
equivalent  of  7  sections,  and  that  it  is  taken  from  No.  21  and 
given  to  No.  45.  At  No.  21  will  be  entered  -f-7,  and  at  No.  45 
will  be  entered  — 7.  At  the  end  of  the  season  the  whole  will  be 
summed  up.  In  an  extra  good  year,  an  average  colony  may 
have  some  such  account  as  this:  24— ]— 48— |— 48 — 7  — 24— J— 16  equals 
153.  But  the  minus  sign  very  seldom  occurs. 

WHEELING  SUPERS  IN. 

At  the  home  apiary,  the  piles  of  supers  are  generally  left 
till  nightfall,  so  the  bees  will  have  abundance  of  time  to  be  fully 
out.  Then  they  are  taken  on  a  wheelbarrow  to  the  honey-room 
(Fig.  74). 

You  will  notice  that  the  wheelbarrow  is  innocent  of  any 
box  or  tray.  It  is  a  common  railroad  barrow,  with  the  tray 
removed.  In  this  shape  it  is  very  convenient  for  wheeling 
supers  or  stove-wood,  the  principal  uses  to  which  it  is  put. 
When  desired  the  tray  can  be  replaced  to  be  used  for  other 
purposes. 


HAULING  SUPERS  FROM  OUT-APIARY. 

At  the  out-apiaries  the  supers  must  be  loaded  on  tne  wagon, 
and  sometimes  at  the  close  of  the  season  that  is  a  rather  ticklish 
job.  When  we  go  to  the  apiary  in  the  morning,  we  drive  pretty 
close  to  the  place  where  the  piles  of  supers  are  to  be — much 
closer  than  it  will  be  safe  to  take  the  horses  at  the  close  of  the 
day’s  work  when  the  bees  are  thoroughly  stirred  up — and  after 
the  horses  are  unhitched  the  wagon  is  taken  by  hand  to  the  most 
convenient  spot  for  loading  on  the  supers. 


194 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


LOADING  SUPERS  ON  WAGON. 

Unfortunately,  although  the  wagon  was  built  especially  for 
the  purpose,  some  irons  prevent  a  perfectly  level  floor  on  which 
to  put  the  supers,  so  strips  of  thin  board  or  lath  are  laid  so  the 
supers  will  be  level.  The  size  of  the  wagon-box  is  such  as  to 
take  on  one  side  three  supers  running  crosswise,  and  on  the 
other  side  two  supers  running  fore  and  aft.  Great  care  is  taken 
to  build  up  the  piles  true,  and  when  all  are  on  they  are  fast¬ 
ened  together  by  laths  with  nails  driven  partly  in,  so  the  nails 
can  easily  be  drawn  upon  reaching  home.  Each  pile  has  a  lath 
vertically ;  across  the  top,  laths  are  braced  in  both  directions,  so 
that  the  whole  load  is  practically  one  solid  pile  (Fig.  64).  As 
the  load  comes  mainly  on  the  hind  axle,  40  supers  are  as  many 
as  we  like  to  haul  at  one  load.  We  seldom  take  so  large  a  load. 

As  I  have  said,  putting  the  load  on  the  wagon  at  the  close 
of  the  season  is  something  of  a  ticklish  job,  and  is  mostly  done 
under  cover  of  smoke,  my  assistant  playing  the  smoker  wherever 
it  will  do  the  most  good.  The  character  of  the  tent-escape  comes 
into  fine  play  here,  for  it  can  so  quickly  and  surely  be  thrown 
into  the  right  place  that  the  robber-bees  have  little  chance  at  the 
piles,  so  the  smoking  is  mostly  done  at  the  wagon.  A  robber- 
cloth  (Fig.  75)  is  even  a  little  better  than  the  tent  escape. 

When  the  load  is  all  on,  the  wagon  is  drawn  away  to  a 
distance  safe  for  the  horses.  This  may  be  8  or  10  rods,  or  it 
may  be  more  than  twice  that  distance.  Fortunately,  at  each 
out-apiary  the  ground  lies  in  such  a  way  that  after  the  first  few 
rods  the  ground  is  descending,  making  it  easy  to  draw  the  load 
the  longer  distance.  Then  the  horses  are  hitched  on  as  speedily 
as  possible. 


HONEY-ROOM. 

Generally,  Philo  will  be  ready  to  take  off  the  load  when  we 
get  home,  unless  we  get  home  too  near  bed-time  and  Philo  has 
gone  home,  in  which  case  I  am  not  always  a  good  enough  fighter 
to  keep  the  women  from  helping  to  carry  the  supers  into  the 
honey-room.  This  is  an  addition  built  on  to  my  dwelling-house. 
It  is  20  x  15  feet,  and  the  floor-timbers  are  blocked  up  with 
stones  so  that  it  will  sustain  a  great  weight  without  breaking. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


195 


When  the  supers  of  sections  are  taken  in,  they  are  piled  up 
near  the  center  of  the  room  with  no  very  great  precision,  usually 
being  piled  crosswise,  that  is,  each  super  placed  across  the  one 
under  it,  for  the  double  purpose  of  ventilation  and  to  make  it 
easier  to  lift  the  supers  off  the  pile  than  they  would  be  if  piled 
straight  and  stuck  together  with  bee-glue. 


Fig.  68 — Pile  of  Stories. 


PUSH-BOARD. 

Perhaps  the  sections  will  be  taken  out  of  the  supers  the 
next  day,  possibly  not  for  a  week  or  more.  A  push-board  (Fig. 
76)  is  used  to  push  the  sections  out  of  the  super.  This  is  made 
as  follows: 


196 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Take  a  board  16%  inches  long  and  11  inches  wide.  Take 
boards  12  inches  long  and  %  inch  thick  and  nail  them  across 
the  first  board  so  as  to  cover  just  its  length,  and  project  %  inch 
at  each  side.  This  makes  a  surface  16%  x  12  inches.  If  this 
board  be  now  put  inside  an  empty  T-super,  and  the  T-super 
raised,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  board  will  easily  drop  through 
the  super,  except  where  it  is  upheld  by  the  three  T-tin  supports 
on  each  side.  Places  must  be  cut  out  of  the  board  so  that  the 
supports  will  present  no  hindrance.  In  order  to  make  these 
places  abundantly  large,  I  cut  them  1%  x  %  inch.  When  cut 
out,  the  measure  will  be,  from  the  corner  of  the  board  to  the 
first  place  or  hole,  3%  inches,  then  1%  inches  for  the  hole,  then 
2  13-16  inches  to  the  next  hole.  Measure  the  same  way  from 
each  of  the  other  three  corners,  and  you  will  have  on  each  side 
three  holes  that  will  allow  the  supports  of  the  T-tins  to  pass 
through  without  obstruction. 

Occasionally,  after  pushing  sections  out  with  the  push- 
board,  I  found  at  the  lower  part  of  some  of  the  central  sections 
some  of  the  cells  looking  watery,  showing  that  the  push-board 
had  crowded  down  a  little  too  hard  at  the  central  part.  To 
obviate  that  I  put  a  litle  cleat  about  %  inch  wide  and  %  thick 
at  the  outer  edge  of  the  board  on  all  sides,  giving  the  pressure 
right  where  it  is  needed.  If  the  outer  part  of  the  sections  comes 
out,  there  is  no  danger  that  the  rest  of  the  sections  will  not  keep 
company.  Unfortunate^,  the  picture  does  not  contain  the  little 
cleats. 


TAKING  SECTIONS  OUT  OF  SUPER, 

Being  now  ready  to  take  out  the  unfinished  sections,  the 
first  thing  is  to  see  whether  there  are  any  to  take  out.  If  a  care¬ 
ful  inspection  shows  that  all  sections  in  a  super  are  sealed  down 
to  the  bottom,  it  goes  directly  to  the  pile  of  finished  sections. 
If  any  sections  are  seen  that  are  not  finished,  the  super  is  placed 
on  the  table,  and  the  little  sticks  removed  that  were  crowded 
between  the  ends  of  the  sections  on  top.  A  flat  hive-cover,  or 
a  board  a  little  larger  than  the  super,  is  placed  upon  it.  Then 
super  and  board  are  both  turned  upside  down,  the  board  being 
firmly  held  on  the  super  by  one  hand  while  reversing.  If  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


197 


super  should  be  reversed  without  this  board  being  held  on  it, 
(here  might  be  a  possibility  of  sections  tumbling  out  and  break¬ 
ing.  (The  board  is  needed  under  the  reversed  super  in  any 
case.)  The  super  is  now  lying  upside  down  on  the  board,  the 
board  even  with  the  edge  of  the  table.  The  side  of  the  super 
having  the  follower  is  nearest,  and  I  slide  the  super  toward  me 
enough  so  that  I  can  push  the  follower  down  and  let  it  drop  out. 
T  then  push  the  super  back  on  the  board  and  lay  the  push-board 


Fig.  69 — Swarm  dumped  before  No.  32. 


on  the  bottoms  of  the  sections.  Before  putting  the  push-board 
on  the  sections,  however,  I  remove  any  bits  of  wax  that  may  be 
on  the  bottoms  of  the  sections,  otherwise  the  push-board  coming 
down  hard  upon  them  will  crush  the  comb  enough  to  make  the 
sealing  on  the  lower  part  of  the  sections  look  watery,  if  it  does 
no  greater  damage. 

As  the  super  now  lies,  the  sections  are  not  resting  on  the 
board  beneath,  there  being  *4  inch  space  there.  I  push  the 
push-board  down  till  the  sections  rest  on  the  board  below. 


198 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


EXCEPTION  ALLY  TROUBLESOME  CASES. 


The  sections  may  fall  that  quarter  of  an  inch  with  their 
own  weight,  and  they  may  not  go  down  at  all  without  urgent 
coaxing.  If  the  honey  was  stored  with  a  rush  in  the  early  part 
of  the  season,  there  will  be  very  little  gluing,  and  the  sections 
will  come  out  easily.  The  later  in  the  season,  and  the  slower  the 
storing,  the  more  gluing,  and  the  more  trouble.  If  there  is  a 
lot  of  glue,  and  if  it  is  warm,  stringy,  and  sticky,  it  must  be 
humored  a  little.  It  can  hardly  be  jerked  loose  suddenly  any 
more  than  if  it  were  nailed ;  but  if  it  is  allowed  time  enough  the 
weight  of  the  sections  may  be  enough  to  bring  them  down.  Of 
course  a  little  insistence  will  hasten  matters  to  some  extent,  but 
it  seems  to  be  a  matter  of  principle  with  that  kind  of  glue  not 
to  let  go  too  suddenly.  Sometimes  I  take  a  super  of  that  kind 
and  place  it  low  enough  to  sit  down  on  the  push-board,  and  then 
let  it  take  its  time.  When  I  feel  it  give  way  under  me,  I  give 
up  my  seat,  unless  I  continue  matters  a  little  longer  by  taking 
hold  of  the  super  at  each  end  and  lifting  up  while  still  sitting 
on  the  push-board. 

WHEN  THE  GLUE  IS  BRITTLE. 

Sometimes  the  glue  is  brittle,  especially  if  quite  cold.  The 
case  is  then  quite  different.  Sitting  on  it  all  day  would  do  no 
good,  unless  one  is  heavy  enough  to  bring  down  the  whole  thing 
suddenly.  If  pushing  down  with  the  hands  on  the  push-board 
produces  no  effect,  I  pound  with  the  fist  on  each  corner  enough 
to  make  the  start.  Then  lifting  on  the  super  at  each  end  with 
the  fingers,  I  push  the  sections  out  of  the  super  by  pushing 
down  on  the  push-board  with  the  thumbs  (Fig.  77). 

After  the  first  start  is  made,  perhaps  the  super  is  at  once 
lifted  off  without  any  trouble,  and  perhaps  further  coaxing  is 
needed,  and  the  super  must  be  treated  somewhat  as  one  treats 
a  refractory  bureau-drawer.  I  lift  on  each  end  alternately, 
holding  down  the  push-board  with  one  hand  and  lifting  with  the 
other,  then  with  both  hands  lift  off  the  super  (Fig.  78). 

This  sounds  a  little  as  if  it  were  hard  work  getting  sections 
out  of  supers,  because  I  have  spent  so  much  time  talking  about 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


199 


the  troublesome  cases,  but  these  are  the  exceptional  ones,  and 
in  general  the  work  is  easy  enough  to  be  done  rapidly. 

TAKING  OUT  UNFINISHED  SECTIONS. 

The  empty  super  being  set  down  and  the  push-board 
removed,  the  unfinished  sections  are  picked  off,  and  the  super 
is  put  back  on  the  sections  as  it  was  before.  Then  the  super 
and  the  board  under  it  are  reversed,  and  the  board  lifted  off. 
Finished  sections  from  another  super  used  for  that  purpose  are 


Fig.  70 — Bee  Working  on  Bed  Clover. 

put  in  to  take  the  places  of  the  unfinished  sections  that  were 
removed,  and  the  super  with  its  24  finished  sections  is  put  on 
the  pile. 


BLOCKING  UP  SUPERS  OF  SECTIONS. 

The  piles  of  finished  sections  are  20  supers  high,  the  piles 
being  about  6  inches  from  each  other  and  from  the  wall.  Four 
blocks  %  of  an  inch  thick  are  placed  under  the  corners  of  the 
first  super  in  the  pile,  and  four  are  put  on  the  corners  of  each 
super  before  the  next  super  is  placed  over  it.  This  for  ventila¬ 
tion  (Fig.  79).  The  sun  has  a  fair  chance  to  make  this  room  a 
pretty  warm  place,  and  screened  doors  and  windows  allow  free 
passage  for  the  air. 

FUMIGATING  SECTIONS. 

Years  ago  it  was  very  important  to  fumigate  these  sections, 
or  else  a  good  many  of  the  larvae  of  the  bee-moth  would  dis- 


200 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


figure  them.  The  trouble  gradually  faded  away  until  for  several 
years  I  have  done  no  fumigating  whatever,  and  no  harm  has 
come  from  the  omission.  I  do  not  know  why  there  should  be  so 
much  change  except  a  change  in  the  character  of  the  bees  that 
stored  the  honey.  Years  ago  black  brood  was  present  in  my 
bees  to  a  larger  extent  than  now.  The  weeding  out  of  bees  too 
lazy  to  fight  away  the  wax-moths  may  have  much  to  do  with  it. 

“  GO-BACKS.'’-’ 

The  unfinished  sections  that  were  taken  out  are  to  be 
disposed  of.  They  are  filled  into  supers  and  returned  to  the 
bees  to  be  finished  up,  and  these  supers  of  sections  that  are  tc 
go  back  to  the  bees  for  finishing  are  called  u  go-backs,”  for 
short.  In  filling  up  these  supers  of  “  go-backs,”  no  very  great 
care  is  taken  as  to  assorting  them,  although  it  is  desirable  so  far 
as  convenient  to  have  all  in  the  same  super  at  nearly  the  same 
stage  toward  completion. 


ARRANGEMENTS  OF  SECTIONS  IN  “  GO-BACKS.” 

All  except  the  two  outside  rows.  In  these  two  rows  are 
put  the  sections  that  are  the  least  advanced,  the  four  corner 
sections  often  containing  only  foundation. 

There  are  two  objects  in  having  these  outside  rows  different 
from  the  others.  The  bees  will  not  make  as  rapid  work  finishing 
them  as  the  others,  and  if  all  were  alike  the  super  would  have 
to  be  left  on  too  long  before  all  would  be  finished.  So  there  is 
no  expectation  of  their  being  finished,  and  it  is  not  worth  while 
to  put  in  the  outside  row  any  that  are  near  completion.  There 
is  another  reason.  Toward  the  close  of  the  season,  especially, 
there  will  be  no  other  supers  on  a  hive  that  has  “  go-backs,” 
and  these  outside  rows  are  needed  to  give  them  a  chance  to  do 
some  storing  while  finishing  up  the  sealing  of  sections  that 
allow  little  or  no  room  for  storing. 

COLONIES  FOR  lt  GO-BACK  ”  WORK. 

Being  more  convenient,  the  “  go-backs  ”  are  all  given  to 
colonies  in  the  home  apiary.  When  the  first  are  given,  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


201 


honey  harvest  is  usually  still  in  full  blast,  and  a  good  many 
colonies  in  the  apiary  will  have  “  go-backs,”  each  colony  having 
only  one,  that  being  placed  on  top  of  its  other  supers.  We  keep 
watch  to  see  which  colonies  make  the  best  work  on  “  go-backs.” 
Some  seal  faster  than  others,  some  seal  sections  with  extra 
whiteness.  In  order  to  help  keep  track  of  the  rate  of  progress, 
each  u  go-back,”  at  the  time  it  is  put  on,  has  marked  on  one  of 
the  middle  sections  the  word  “  go-back  ”  and  the  date.  If  the 
super  were  not  thus  marked,  the  colony  would  get  more  credit 
than  it  deserved  when  the  super  was  removed. 

A  little  later  in  the  season  the  number  of  colonies  chosen 
for  this  work  is  limited,  only  those  which  do  the  best  being 
continued  at  it,  and  these  are  not  allowed  to  have  any  other 
supers.  Generally  two  supers  at  a  time  will  be  enoughAor  a 
colony  to  have;  but  sometimes  three  will  be  given.  As  fast  as 
one  super  is  ready  to  come  off  another  takes  its  place. 

ROBBER-CLOTH. 

Before  fulfilling  my  promise  to  describe  the  tent-escape. 
I  must  describe  a  robber-cloth  (Fig.  75),  which  forms  an  essen¬ 
tial  part  of  the  tent-escape.  I  take  a  piece  of  stout  cotton  cloth 
(sheeting)  or  burlap  large  enough  to  cover  a  hive  and  hang 
down  four  inches  or  more  at  both  sides  and  at  each  end.  This 
must  be  weighted  down  at  the  side  with  lath,  and  for  this  pur¬ 
pose  I  take  four  pieces  of  lath  about  as  long  as  the  hive.  I  lay 
down  one  piece  of  lath  with  another  piece  on  it,  and  one  edge 
of  the  cloth  between  the  two  pieces  of  lath.  I  then  nail  the  two 
together  and  clinch  the  nails.  I  use  the  other  two  pieces  of  lath 
for  the  opposite  edge  of  the  cloth.  This  makes  a  good  robber- 
cloth  just  as  it  is,  but  it  is  better  to  have  the  ends  also  weighted 
down,  especially  on  a  windy  day.  For  this  purpose  I  make  a 
hem  in  each  end,  and  put  in  it  shot,  nails,  pebbles,  or  something 
of  the  kind,  stitching  across  the  hem  here  and  there  so  the 
weighting  material  will  not  all  run  together  at  one  side  or  the 
other. 


QUICK  COVERING  WITH  ROBBER-CLOTH. 

In  any  case  where  one  wants  to  cover  up  a  hive  quickly 
against  robbers,  as  when  opening  and  closing  the  same  hive 


202 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


frequently  for  the  sake  of  putting  in  or  taking  out  combs,  this 
robber-cloth  will  be  found  a  gTeat  convenience.  No  careful 
adjustment  is  needed,  as  in  putting  on  a  regular  hive-cover,  but 
one  can  take  hold  of  the  lath  with  one  hand,  and  with  a  single 
throw  the  hive  is  covered  securely,  with  no  killing  of  bees  if 
any  should  happen  to  be  in  the  way. 


Fig.  71 — Shop  ( looking  South). 


MILLER  TENT-ESCAPE. 

Having  made  the  lobber-cloth,  an  escape,  not  in  the  shape 
of  a  cone,  but  in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid,  is  fastened  centrally 
upon  it  (Fig.  73).  Take  three  triangular  pieces  of  wire  cloth, 
each  of  the  three  sides  measuring  alike.  Put  them  together  in 
the  form  of  a  tent,  sewing  the  edges  together  at  the  three  sides 
by  weaving  fine  wire  through.  At  the  top,  however,  let  each  of 
the  pieces  be  folded  out,  so  that  a  hole  large  enough  to  push 
your  finger  in  will  be  left.  Lay  the  tent  centrally  on  the  robber- 
cloth,  and  mark  where  the  three  corners  of  the  tent  come.  Now 
starting  at  each  of  these  points,  cut  the  cloth  to  the  center.  Cut 
away  the  three  flaps  of  cloth  all  but  about  iy4  inches,  and  turn 
this  l^-inch  margin  up  on  the  outside  of  the  tent  and  sew  there 
with  heavy  thread. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


203 


Another  way  is  a  little  easier  to  do,  and  it  is  a  little  better, 
although  a  little  harder  to  describe.  Take  a  piece  of  wire  cloth 
2  1-3  times  as  long  as  it  is  wide.  Mark  a  point  at  the  middle 
of  one  of  the  longer  sides,  and  on  the  other  side  mark  a  point 
half  way  from  each  end  to  the  middle,  as  shown  in  the  figure. 
Make  a  fold  at  each  of  the  dotted  lines.  The  wire  cloth  may  be 
cut  away  at  the  two  outside  dotted  lines,  or,  what  is  better,  the 
end  pieces  may  be  folded  over  and  sewed  down.  Now  bring  the 
two  parts  of  the  upper  margin  together  and  sew  with  wire,  and 
then  proceed  to  fasten  the  tent  in  place  as  before.  In  this  latter 
case,  of  course,  a  hole  must  be  cut  at  the  top  of  the  tent.  Be-  • 


fore  the  tent  is  sewed  together,  cut  a  slit  about  an  inch  deep  in 
the  two  dotted  lines  at  the  top,  and  then  fold  out  the  three 
points. 

When  one  of  these  tent-escapes  is  placed  on  a  pile  of 
supers,  or  on  a  hive  containing  bees,  the  bees  will  pass  out 
freely  at  the  top,  but  the  bees  that  try  to  get  in  attempt  to  make 
the  entrance  further  down.  Once  in  a  great  while  there  will 
gather  a  bunch  of  the  outgoing  bees  at  the  top  so  as  to  clog  the 
exit,  and  then  the  robbers  will  settle  on  this  bunch  of  bees  and 
work  their  way  in,  but  a  little  smoke  will  scatter  the  bunch  of 
bees. 

But  bees  are  persevering  creatures,  and  are  not  likely  to 
stay  scattered.  In  that  case  it  is  a  good  thing  to  put  two  escapes 
over  the  pile,  a  larger  one  over  a  smaller  one.  The  piece  of 
wire  cloth  used  in  making  some  of  mine  is  22  x  9 ^  inches,  and 
in  others  it  is  14  x  6.  The  smaller  ones  seem  to  work  just  as 
well  as  the  larger,  and  it  is  a  convenience  to  have  the  two  sizes 


204 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


when  a  case  such  as  I  have  mentioned  occurs.  But  it  does  not 
often  occur. 

“  ONCE  A  THIEF  ”  NOT  “  ALWAYS  A  THIEF.” 

For  many  years  I  believed  what  perhaps  is  generally 
believed,  that  the  saying,  “  Once  a  thief,  always  a  thief,”  was 
true  of  any  bee  ever  guilty  of  robbing.  There  is,  no  doubt, 
some  ground  for  such  belief,  for  a  bee  that  has  spent  to-day 
robbing  from  a  certain  hive  will  very  likely  start  in  on  the  same 
business  to-morrow,  if  any  more  plunder  is  to  be  had  in  the 
same  place ;  but  it  is  not  true  that  a  bee  that  has  been  engaged 
in  one  robbing  scrape  will  never  after  return  to  honest  labor. 

Indeed,  so  far  as  the  bee  is  concerned,  getting  honey  out  of 
another  hive  probably  seems  just  as  honest  work  as  to  gather 
nectar  from  the  flowers.  And  the  more  active  a  bee  is  when 
engaged  in  the  field,  the  more  active  might  we  expect  to  find  it 
in  trying  to  rob  when  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  had  in  the 
field. 

Many  a  hive  is  robbed  out  in  the  spring,  and  many  a  bee 
is  engaged  in  the  robbing;  yet  the  first  day  in  which  an  abun¬ 
dance  of  stores  can  be  had  in  the  field,  every  bee  of  sufficient 
age  gleefully  joins  in  the  quest  abroad,  and  the  fact  that  honey 
may  be  exposed  with  little  danger  shows  that  the  bees  that  were 
formerly  so  intent  upon  robbing  are  now  afield  with  the  others. 

LEAVING  SOMETHING  FOR  ROBBERS. 

A  practice  that  is  just  as  far  from  right  as  the  theory 
about  which  we  have  been  talking  is  the  practice  of  taking 
away  whatever  the  robbers  are  working  upon,  without  leaving 
any  thing  in  its  place.  If  by  carelessness  I  have  left  a  section 
of  honey  on  a  hive,  and  find  the  robbers  at  work  upon  it,  I  can 
hardly  do  a  worse  thing  than  to  take  it  away. 

If  I  leave  it,  the  bees  will  stick  to  it,  and  clean  it  out,  and 
for  some  time  a  number  of  robbers  will  stick  to  it  after  the 
honey  is  all  gone,  but  they  stick  to  that  one  spot,  and  if  the 
empty  comb  is  left  there,  they  keep  hunting  it  all  over  and  over, 
and  by  and  by  conclude  the  honey  is  all  used  out  of  it  and  go 
about  their  business.  If  the  section  is  taken  away  and  nothing 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


205 


left  in  its  place,  they  seem  to  think  they  have  made  a  mistake 
as  to  the  place  and  hunt  all  around  for  the  missing  section,  until 
they  force  their  way  into  the  nearest  conquerable  colony. 

If  a  weak  colony  is  attacked,  I  may  sometimes  take  it  away, 
but  if  I  do,  I  immediately  put  in  its  place  an  empty  hive  in 
which  I  put  some  scraps  of  comb  containing  a  little  honey. 


Fig.  72 — No.  12  Closed  for  Hauling. 

They  will  rob  this  out  and  that  will  be  the  end  of  it.  It  is 
possible  that  dry  comb  without  any  honey  might  answer. 

ROBBING  FAULT  OF  BEEKEEPER. 

Except  in  case  of  queenless  colonies,  I  am  somewhat  of  the 
opinion  that  most  cases  of  robbing  have  been  through  my  own 
carelessness.  When  there  is  nothing  to  do  in  the  fields,  the  bees 
may  be  seen  busily  trying  to  enter  cracks  about  hives  so  small 
that  there  is  no  possibility  of  their  entering,  and  they  are  sharp 
to  observe  any  change.  If,  at  such  times,  a  fresh  opening  be 
left  anywhere  about  a  hive,  it  is  sure  to  be  discovered.  An 
entrance  at  the  top  of  brood-chamber,  at  the  back  end,  may  be 
left  open  all  the  season  without  being  disturbed  by  robbers. 


206 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


But  if  it  has  been  kept  closed  until  a  time  when  robbers  are 
troublesome,  and  then  opened,  whether  it  be  that  the  robbers 
are  stirred  up  by  seeing  the  change,  or  whether  the  bees  of  the 
colony  are  not  in  the  habit  of  protecting  themselves  in  that 
quarter,  the  robbers  are  pretty  sure  to  give  the  new  entrance 
especial  attention ;  and  if  the  colony  be  not  very  strong  there 
may  be  serious  trouble. 

STARTING  ROBBING  BY  FEEDING. 

As  feeding  is  done  only  in  a  time  of  scarcity,  it  is  one  of 
the  most  common  causes  of  robbing  among  careless  beekeepers. 
When  general  feeding  is  done  with  Miller  feeders,  there  is  little 
danger,  no  matter  what  time  of  day  the  work  is  done;  but  if 
some  weak  colony  is  short  of  stores,  I  try  to  be  somewhat  care¬ 
ful  to  do  nothing  to  attract  especial  attention  to  it.  I  have 
sometimes  fed  at  night,  and  so  far  as  convenient  prefer  to  feed 
late  in  the  day,  but  convenience  does  not  always  allow  it. 

One  time  I  found  a  colony  at  the  close  of  the  honey  harvest, 
by  some  means  about  at  the  point  of  starvation.  With  more 
carelessness  than  was  excusable,  I  gave  them,  I  think  in  the 
forenoon,  two  or  three  combs  tilled  with  sugar  syrup.  Some 
time  after,  I  happened  to  look  toward  that  end  of  the  apiary, 
and  saw  what  looked  like  a  swarm.  The  bees  had  become  excited 
over  their  new-found  stores;  the  robber-bees  had  joined  in,  and 
the  bees  of  the  colony  seemed  to  think  forage  was  so  plentiful 
that  it  wasn’t  worth  while  to  be  mean  about  it,  there  was  enough 
for  all ;  so  the  robbers  were  doing  a  land-office  business  without 
let  or  hindrance. 

STOPPING  ROBBING  WITH  WET  HAY. 

I  closed  the  entrances  of  the  other  hives  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood,  so  that  only  two  or  three  bees  could  pass  at  a 
time,  and  then  threw  a  lot  of  loose  wet  hay  at  the  entrance  of 
the  besieged  hive. 

Not  only  did  I  put  hay  at  the  entrance,  but  piled  it  up  all 
around  to  the  top  of  the  hive.  For  some  time  I  kept  every 
thing  very  wet  all  around  the  hive  by  pouring  on  pails  of  water, 
and  then  left  them  till  next  day. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


207 


No  other  hives  were  attacked.  1  somewhat  expected  to  find 
the  queen  killed,  but  she  was  all  right  next  day,  and  no  further 
trouble  occurred,  as  the  colony  was  a  strong  one,  and,  when  in 
its  right  mind,  capable  of  taking  care  of  itself. 

DO  ROBBED  BEES  JOIN  THE  ROBBERS  ? 

One  of  the  venerable  traditions  that  is  perhaps  generally 
accepted  without  question  is  that  when  a  colony  is  being  robbed 


Fig.  73 — Miller  Tent-Fscaye. 


it  is  a  quite  common  thing  for  the  bees  that  are  robbed  to  job 
the  robbers  and  help  carry  off  the  stores.  I  atn  very  skeptical 
as  to  there  being  any  truth  in  the  tradition.  I  do  not  say  such 
a  thing  never  happened,  but  I  never  saw  such  a  case,  and  I  have 
seen  from  first  to  last  a  number  of  cases  in  which  all  the  stores 
were  emptied  out  of  the  combs  by  robbers,  and  the  bees  of  the 
colony  seemed  to  be  all  left,  and  generally  by  taking  the  right 
kind  of  pains  I  have  succeeded  in  re-establishing  such  a  colony. 
In  such  cases  there  was  certainly  no  joining  the  robbers. 

I  have  found  other  cases  in  which  the  bees  were  entirely 
gone,  and  I  could  only  guess  what  had  become  of  them.  My 
guess  was  that  after  being  robbed  of  all  their  stores,  and  having 


208 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


used  up  all  the  honey  in  their  honey-sacs,  perhaps  some  time 
after  the  robbers  had  ceased  to  pay  any  attention  to  them,  they 
had  swarmed  out  as  any  hunger-swarm  will  do,  and  had  united, 
or  tried  to  unite,  with  some  other  colony.  Would  they  not  be 
likely  to  join  some  colony  other  than  the  one  that  had  treated 
them  so  unkindly? 

PILES  SOMETIMES  A  TARGET  FOR  ROBBERS. 

Piles  of  four  or  five  stories  with  abundant  ventilation  at 
each  story  are  in  no  danger  from  robbers  under  ordinary  cir¬ 
cumstances  ;  but  if  you  ever  have  such  piles,  and  are  so  unfor¬ 
tunate  as  to  get  the  robbers  once  started  at  them,  you  “  better 
watch  out.”  Even  if  there  should  be  a  dearth  for  some  time, 
robbers  are  not  likely  to  attack  a  pile;  for  they  have  probably 
got  into  the  habit  of  thinking  that  such  a  pile  is  not  to  be 
meddled  with ;  but  just  you  do  something  to  call  particular 
attention  to  the  pile,  such  as  letting  a  comb  of  honey  stand  by 
it  exjiosed,  and  there  are  so  many  exposed  places  to  defend  that 
the  robbers  are  likely  to  have  things  their  own  way. 

A  BAD  CASE  OF  ROBBING. 

One  time  George  W.  York  was  here  when  bees  were  not 
busily  at  work  in  the  fields,  and  I  opened  up  a  pile  of  four 
stories,  for  what  purpose  I  do  not  now  remember;  very  likely 
I  was  trying  to  show  off  in  some  way.  At  any  rate  I  showed 
him  a  fine  case  of  robbing,  for  the  robbers  pounced  down  upon 
every  exposed  point,  and  before  I  had  noticed  what  was  going 
on  they  were  having  a  gay  time.  Of  course  I  couldn’t  build  a 
haystack  about  the  four  stories,  but  I  had  to  do  something,  for 
although  the  colony  was  a  powerful  one  it  was  utterly  inade¬ 
quate  to  the  protection  of  four  exposed  stories,  and  without 
any  interference  on  my  part  its  doom  was  sealed.  I  closed  all 
entrances  except  the  lower  one,  and  then  applied  the  hay  and 
water  to  the  lower  story  successfully. 

PILES  IN  LATE  SUMMER. 

During  the  usual  working  season  there  is  need  of  sorm 
foolishness  on  the  part  of  the  beekeeper  to  start  robbing  at  a 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


209 


pile  having  a  strong  colony ;  but  after  the  weather  becomes  quite 
cool  toward  fall,  the  case  is  different.  Of  course,  all  but  the 
lower  entrance  should  be  closed  before  cold  nights  come,  but 
sometimes  there  is  a  case  of  neglect.  In  a  cold  night  the  colony 
shrinks  down  into  the  lower  or  the  lower  two  stories — all  the 
more  because  there  is  a  current  of  air  right  through  the  hive — 
and  the  two  or  three  upper  stories  are  left  without  any  bees. 


Fig.  74 — Wheeling  Load  of  Supers. 


In  the  following  morning  they  do  not  go  up  again  into  the 
upper  stories  till  some  time  after  the  day  has  warmed  up.  The- 
robbers,  however,  do  not  wait  so  long,  but  finding  an  upper 
entrance  unprotected  go  to  work  in  lively  style. 

As  late  as  October  6,  in  the  year  1902,  a  pile  was  left  with 
an  upper  entrance  or  ventilating  space  still  open,  and  on  the 
forenoon  of  that  day  I  observed  lively  work  at  that  place,  while 
all  was  quiet  at  the  lower  or  regular  entrance.  I  shoved  the 
cover  back  so  as  to  close  the  space,  and  then  took  a  snap-shot 
of  the  bees  trying  to  get  in,  as  shown  in  Fig.  81.  Only  two 
stories  show  in  the  picture,  although  the  pile  was  four  stories 
high.  Fortunately  no  other  place  was  open  except  the  regular 
lower  entrance,  and  it  was  so  far  from  top  to  bottom  that  the 


210 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


robbers  made  no  attempt  below — indeed  I  suppose  they  would 
have  been  promptly  repulsed  if  they  had — so  after  trying  for 
a  time  to  get  in  the  place  I  had  closed,  they  gave  up  and  left  the 
hive. 


PLAYING  BEES  AN3)  ROBBERS. 

I  think  I  can  tell  by  carefully  looking  at  bees  when  flying 
with  unusual  commotion  at  the  entrance  of  a  hive  whether  it  is 
a  case  of  robbing  or  bees  at  play,  but  I  am  not  sure  I  could  tell 


Fig.  75 — Bobber-Cloth. 

some  one  else  the  difference  in  appearance.  Looking  at  bees  at 
play  in  Fig.  82,  and  comparing  with  Fig.  81,  there  appears  little 
difference.  In  actual  life  there  will  be  seen  the  same  excited 
eagerness  in  each  case. 

The  time  of  day  helps  to  decide.  During  the  middle  of  the 
day,  say  from  noon  till  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  playing  is 
common;  earlier  or  later  than  that  time,  if  there  is  big  excite¬ 
ment  at  the  entrance  of  a  weak  colony,  the  likelihood  is  that 
robbing  is  going  on. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


211 


SIGNS  OF  ROBBING. 

One  pretty  sure  sign  of  robbing,  when  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  stir  at  the  entrance,  is  to  see  bees  working  frantically  to  force 
an  entrance  under  the  cover  or  at  some  other  part  of  the  hive. 
Just  why  they  should  do  this  at  times  when  they  seem  to  have 
plenty  of  chance  to  get  in  at  the  regular  entrance  I  do  not 
know.  It  seems  to  be  a  way  they  have. 

A  sure  sign  of  robbing  is  to  find  the  bees  entering  the  hive 
with  empty  sacs  and  coming  out  with  their  sacs  full.  The 
contents  of  the  sac  can  be  told  by  killing  the  bee,  pulling  it  in 
two,  and  squeezing  out  the  contents  of  the  sac.  Indeed,  the 
squeezing  is  hardly  needed. 

BEES  STICK  TO  THE  SAME  ENTRANCE. 

A  glance  at  the  hive  shown  in  Fig.  81  would  show  that  it 
is  a  case  of  robbing,  for  the  flying  is  at  an  opening  never  used 
for  an  entrance.  It  is  a  somewhat  curious  fact  that  bees  are 
very  persistent  in  continuing  to  use  the  same  place  for  an 
entrance. 

After  the  bees  have  become  used  to  going  in  and  out  at  the 
regular  place,  if  I  make  an  opening  at  the  back  end  of  the  hive, 
no  matter  if  it  be  as  large  as  the  front  entrance,  that  back 
opening  will  never  be  used  as  an  entrance.  One  would  think 
that  young  bees  taking  their  first  play-spell  would  be  as  likely 
to  use  the  back  as  the  front  opening;  but  when  I  have  had 
ventilating  openings  at  the  backs  of  the  hives  I  do  not  remem¬ 
ber  to  have  seen  bees  playing  at  the  back.  Perhaps  the  noise 
of  the  regular  traffic  in  front  attracts  them  there. 

LOSING  TILE  ROBBERS. 

I  make  it  a  rule  to  stop  operations  usually  when  robbers 
are  very  bad,  but  sometimes  it  seems  necessary  to  fight  it  out. 
I  have  sometimes  taken  advantage  of  the  plan  of  making  cross 
bees  or  robbers  lose  themselves  or,  rather,  lose  the  object  they 
are  after  by  rapidly  changing  the  base  of  operation.  One  day  at 
the  Wilson  apiary  I  had  taken  off  some  wide  frames  of  sections 
and  wanted  to  take  them  from  the  place  where  they  were  piled 
up,  so  as  to  put  them  on  the  wagon.  The  robbers  were  so  fierce 


212 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


and  persistent  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  open  a  crack  without 
their  immediately  forcing  their  way  in.  My  wife  was  provided 
with  a  smoker  in  full  blast,  and  a  big  bunch  of  goldenrod  or 
other  weeds.  A  robber-cloth  covered  the  pile.  With  one  hand 
I  lifted  the  cloth  and  with  the  other  took  out  a  frame  of  sections, 
then  quickly  dropped  the  robber-cloth  in  its  place,  my  wife 
keeping  a  cloud  of  smoke  in  the  way  of  any  robbers  which 
should  attempt  to  enter  the  pile  while  the  cloth  was  raised. 
Instantly  the  frame  was  out  of  the  super,  the  robbers  made  for 
the  frame  of  sections.  I  made  for  the  wagon  and  my  wife 
made  for  me.  Running  in  a  zig-zag,  circuitous  course,  my  wife 
followed  me,  puffing  and  switching  at  every  step,  and  by  the 
time  we  got  to  the  wagon  the  robbers  were  lost,  the  frame  was 
slipped  quickly  into  the  super  on  the  wagon,  and  the  robber1 
cloth  dropped  over  it.  The  Scotch  folks  at  the  house  had  a 
good  laugh  over  the  crazy  couple  chasing  one  another  through 
the  orchard,  but  we  beat  the  bees.  Under  ordinary  circum¬ 
stances  it  would  be  better  to  take  an  easier  plan  or  wait  till 
dark. 


PROTECTION  FROM  STINGS. 

I  have  been  a  beekeeper  since  1861,  and  since  1878  I  have 
made  the  production  of  honey  my  sole  business,  aside  from 
writing  about  bees,  and  yet  I  have  not  reached  that  point  where 
I  care  nothing  for  protection  from  stings.  When  I  first  com¬ 
menced  keeping  bees,  a  sting  on  my  hand  was  a  serious  affair, 
swelling  to  the  shoulder,  and  troubling  fully  as  much  the  second 
day  as  the  first.  Now,  if  I  receive  a  half-dozen  stings  or  more, 
I  cannot  tell  an  hour  or  two  later  where  I  was  stung,  except  as 
a  matter  of  memory.  Yet  I  think  that  a  sting  gives  me  full}" 
as  much  pain  for  the  first  minute  now,  as  it  did  fifty  years  ago. 
Sometimes  the  pain  is  so  severe  that  it  literally  makes  me  groan, 
especially  if  no  one  is  within  hearing.  I  sometimes  wonder  at 
those  who  scout  at  any  sort  of  protection,  and  query  whether 
there  may  not  be  just  a  little  of  a  spirit  of  bravado  about  it. 
I  think  I  could  go  through  a  year  without  any  sort  of  protection, 
but  I  do  not  think  I  ever  shall.  A  bee  inside  my  clothing  makes 
me  very  nervous,  and  I  cannot  go  on  in  comfort  at  my  work 
with  a  feeling  of  uncertainty  as  to  where  and  when  its  little 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


213 


javelin  shall  pierce  my  flesh.  If  I  felt  it  crawling  on  me,  and 
then  cease  to  feel  it  because  it  is  on  the  clothing  and  not  on  the 
skin,  I  am  in  momentary  dread  as  to  where  it  shall  turn  up 
next;  and  it  is  a  real  relief  when  it  stings  me,  for  1  know  then 
the  precise  spot  where  it  is,  and  have  no  further  expectations 
from  it. 


BEE-VEIL. 

So  I  seldom  go  among  the  bees  without  a  veil.  I  may  not 
have  it  over  my  face,  but  it  is  on  the  hat,  ready  to  be  pulled 


Fig.  76 — Push-Board. 

down  at  any  time.  The  veil  is  made  of  inexpensive  material, 
called  by  milliners  cape-lace  or  cape-net.  It  is  21  inches  wide. 
A  piece  is  cut  off  as  long  as  the  circumference  of  the  brim  of  a 
straw  hat,  and  both  ends  sewed  together.  Shirr  a  rubber  cord 
in  one  end  of  this  open  bag,  thoroughly  soak  or  wash  out  the 
starch,  and  sew  the  other  end  on  the  edge  of  the  hat-brim.  It 
is  important  for  the  eyesight  that  the  stuff  of  the  veil  be  black ; 
but  the  black  coloring  crocks  one’s  clothing.  So  of  late  years  a 


214 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


border  of  white  cloth  is  sewed  on  the  veil  to  receive  the  rubber 
cord. 

The  rubber  cord  holds  the  veil  close  about  one’s  neck,  yet 
not  close  enough  but  that  a  bee  sometimes  gets  under  it.  Al¬ 
though  a  bee  is  not  at  all  likely  to  sting  when  it  gets  inside  a 
veil,  it  is  just  as  well  to  have  it  remain  outside.  So  my  assistant 
devised  the  plan  of  drawing  the  veil  down  very  tightly  in  front, 
and  pinning  it  to  her  waist  with  a  safety-pin.  Seeing  it  work 
so  well  with  her,  I  have  also  adopted  the  plan,  pinning  to  my 
suspenders  on  one  side,  or  to  my  vest  if  I  have  one  on. 

Sometimes  a  face-piece  of  silk  net  is  sewed  in  the  veil. 
Instead  of  having  the  veil  sewed  to  my  hat,  so  that  the  bee-hat 
must  be  taken  along  when  we  go  to  an  out-apiary,  I  sometimes 
have  in  my  pocket  a  veil  made  with  a  rubber  cord  shirred  into 
each  end,  and  when  I  reach  the  apiary  the  veil  is  slipped  on 
over  the  hat  I  am  wearing. 

The  openings  at  the  wrist  and  neck  of  my  shirt  are  small, 
the  cloth  lapping  over  so  as  to  give  a  bee  little  chance  for 
entrance.  If  bees  are  likely  to  be  on  the  ground  I  put  my  pants 
inside  my  stockings,  or,  still  better,  put  on  a  pair  of  trouser 
guards  such  as  bicyclists  wear.  I  get  a  great  many  stings  on  my 
hands,  but  the  inconvenience  and  discomfort  of  gloves  are  so 
great  that  for  many  years  I  felt  the  stings  to  be  the  lesser  of  the 
two  evils.  But  after  working  for  years  to  get  bees  that  would 
give  the  most  honey,  without  paying  any  attention  to  the 
temper  of  the  bees,  I  finally  had  bees  so  cross  that  in  spite  of 
the  inconvenience  I  felt  obliged  to  wear  gloves. 

My  assistant  prefers  to  wear  gloves,  not  only  to  avoid  the 
stings,  but  to  avoid  the  bee-glue.  I  may  say  in  passing  that  1 
am  not  always  very  particular  about  getting  the  bee-glue  off  my 
hands,  but  when  I  do  clean  them  I  usually  give  the  bee-glue  a 
good  rubbing  with  butter  or  grease,  and  then  wash  off  with  soap 
and  water.  I  confess  I  don’t  very  much  mind  having  bee-glue 
on  my  hands  unless  there  is  so  much  of  it  that  it  sticks  to  the 
bed-clothes  at  night.  But  I  do  abhor  the  sticky  feeling  of  honey 
on  my  hands;  and  when  they  get  daubed,  if  I  have  no  water  I 
pick  up  some  soil  to  rub  them  with.  That  at  least  takes  away 
the  sticky  feeding.  Perhaps  you  think  the  soil  is  worse  than  the 
honey.  I  don’t. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


215 


BEE-GLOVES. 

For  some  time  Miss  Wilson  wore  a  kind  of  cheap  white 
glove  that  I  think  was  made  of  pig-skin.  She  dislikes  the  smell 
of  oiled  canvas  gloves,  although  to  me  the  smell  is  not  very  bad, 
and  the  smell  of  the  pig-skin  is  horrid.  Latterly  she  wears  light 


Fig.  77 — Pushing  Sections  out  of  Super. 

buckskin,  which  are  free  from  smell,  and  wash  well,  or  else  a 
pair  of  kid  gloves  with  a  pair  of  10-cent  pickle  gloves  over 
them.  The  latter  are  rather  bungling. 

GETTING  OUT  STINGS. 

I  like  to  get  a  sting  out  of  my  skin  as  soon  as  possible,  if 
not  too  busy.  A  little  trick  in  this  direction  is,  I  think,  not 


216 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


known  to  all  beekeepers.  I  am  not  sure  whether  I  learned  it  by 
instinct,  or  from  the  writings  of  G.  M.  Doolittle.  If  a  bee  stings 
my  hand  I  instantly  strike  the  hand  with  much  force  upon  my 
leg,  with  a  sort  of  quick,  wiping  motion.  This  mashes  the  bee, 
generally,  and  rubs  out  the  sting  at  the  same  time. 

SCOLDING  BEES. 

If  one  thinks  of  the  thousands  or  millions  of  bees  in  a  large 
apiary,  it  will  be  seen  that  comparatively  few  bees  make  any 
attack.  Sometimes  a  single  bee  will  threaten  and  scold  me  by 
the  hour,  perhaps  finally  stinging  me  by  getting  into  my  hair 
or  whiskers,  and  for  aught  I  know  the  same  bee  may  keep- up 
the  same  thing  for  days — I  mean  the  scolding,  not  the  stinging. 
It  is  sometimes  worth  while  to  get  rid  of  the  annoyance  by 
stepping  to  one  side  and  knocking  it  down  with  a  stick  by  a  few 
rapid  strokes  back  and  forth  in  front  of  my  face.  I  often  mash 
it  by  slapping  my  hands  together. 

CROSS  COLONIES. 

Sometimes  the  bees  have  seemed  verv  cross,  and  a  little  ob- 
servation  has  shown  these  bees  to  proceed  from  a  particular  part 
of  the  apiary,  and  really  from  only  one  hive.  A  careless  observer 
might  have  said  all  the  bees  in  the  apiary  were  cross.  I  have 
had  a  few  colonies  so  cross  that  merely  walking  by  the  hive  was 
the  signal  for  a  general  onslaught.  Truth  obliges  me  to  say  that 
I  have  sometimes  been  so  badly  stung  by  one  of  these,  when 
working  at  them,  that  I  have  taken  refuge  in  inglorious  flight, 
glad  to  get  a  respite  and  scrape  out  the  stings.  Just  why  there 
should  be  one  or  two  of  these  in  a  year  in  such  marked  contrast 
with  others  I  cannot  say.  The  only  remedy  I  had  was  to  kill 
the  queen. 

DRESS  FOR  THE  HOTTEST  WEATHER. 

During  the  principal  part  of  the  honey-flow,  a  prominent 
element  of  hardship  is  the  endurance  of  the  heat.  Sometimes 
the  heat  really  has  made  me  sick,  so  that  in  spite  of  a  press  of 
work  I  have  been  obliged  to  give  up  and  lie  down  for  an  hour 
pr  more.  At  such  times  you  may  be  sure  I  am  not  very  warmly 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


217 


clad.  One  straw  hat  and  veil,  one  cotton  shirt,  one  pair  cotton 
overalls,  one  pair  cotton  socks  and  one  pair  shoes,  comprise  my 
entire  wearing  apparel  (Fig.  83).  Before  noon,  shirt  and  pants 
are  both  thoroughly  wet  with  perspiration. 


Fig.  78. — Lifting  off  the  Super. 


SPONGE-BATH  AT  NOON. 

In  this  heated  condition,  I  sponge  myself  off  with  cold 
water  before  dinner,  put  on  dry  pants  and  shirt,  and  hang  up 
the  wet  ones  in  the  sun  to  be  put  on  next  day.  I  am  sure  that, 
by  this  refreshing  change,  I  am  able  to  do  more  work.  It  might 
be  thought  that  applying  cold  water  all  over  the  body  when 
every  part  is  dripping  with  perspiration  might  make  me  take 
cold.  I  have  never  found  it,  so,  even  if  followed  up  every  day. 


218 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


The  body  is  so  thoroughly  heated  that  it  easily  resists  the  shock, 
and  a  brisk  rubbing  leaves  one  in  a  hue  glow. 

My  overalls  are  white,  such  as  painters  or  masons  use.  I 
do  not  enjoy  being  so  conspicuous  when  I  happen  to  be  on  the 
street  clad  in  white;  but  I  would  rather  be  conspicuous  than  to 
be  stung;  and  I  feel  sure  that  I  do  not  get  so  many  stings  as  I 
would  with  darker  clothing. 

WOMAN’S  BEE-DRESS. 

My  assistant  is  not  dressed  so  coolly  as  I.  Her  desire  to 
keep  her  dress  clean  makes  her  warmer  than  she  otherwise 
would  be,  for  she  wears  an  apron  that  covers  all  the  dress  except 
the  sleeves  (Fig.  84).  This  apron  is  made  of  denim,  and  has 
two  large  pockets.  It  is  made  after  pattern  No.  3696  of  the 
Butterick  Publishing  Co.  To  cover  the  sleeves  of  her  dress,  she 
uses  a  pair  of  white  sleeves  fastened  together  by  a  strap  sewed 
to  each  sleeve  across  the  back,  a  similar  strap  in  front  being 
sewed  to  one  sleeve  and  buttoned  to  the  other.  The  wrists  of 
these  sleeves  are  s.ewed  to  the  wrists  of  her  gloves,  and  ripped 
off  whenever  it  is  necessary  to  wash  either  gloves  or  sleeves. 
For  convenience,  several  pairs  are  kept. 

I 

QUEEN-REARING - BREEDING  FROM  BEST. 

My  sole  business  with  bees  being  to  produce  honey,  I  am 
not  particular  to  keep  a  popular  breed  of  bees,  only  so  far  as 
their  popularity  comes  from  their  profitableness  as  honey- 
gatherers.  I  am  anxious  to  have  those  that  are  industrious, 
good  winterers,  gentle,  and  not  given  to  much  swarming.  For 
some  years  I  got  an  imported  Italian  queen  every  year  or  two. 
Then  for  a  good  many  years  I  preferred  to  rear  from  queens 
of  my  own  whose  workers  had  distinguished  themselves  as  being 
the  most  desirable.  The  chief  thing  considered  was  the  amount 
of  honey  stored.  Little  or  no  attention  was  paid  to  color,  and 
unfortunately  no  more  to  temper.  So  1  had  bees  that  were  hy¬ 
brids,  hustlers  to  store,  but  anything  but  angels  in  temper. 
Then,  beginning  with  1906,  I  introduced  quite  a  number  of 
Italian  queens,  in  the  hope  that  among  them  I  might  find  one 
as  good  as  my  hybrid  stock,  without  so  much  ill  temper.  By 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


219 


the  time  of  the  year  1913  most  of  the  black  blood  was  worked 
out,  and  in  that  year,  when  I  obtained  the  world’s  record  for 
the  highest  average  of  sections  from  as  many  as  72  colonies,  it 
had  come  to  pass  that  my  best  yields  were  from  colonies  having 
three  yellow  bands. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  SELECTION. 

The  queen  being  the  very  soul  of  the  colony,  I  hardly  con¬ 
sider  any  pains  too  great  that  will  give  better  queens.  The  first 


Fig.  79. — Supers  of  Sections  Blocked  Up. 

thing  is  to  select  the  queen  from  which  to  rear,  for  generally  all 
rearing  will  be  from  the  same  queen,  whether  for  the  home 
apiary  or  an  outside  apiary.  The  records  are  carefully  scanned, 
and  that  queen  chosen  which,  all  things  considered,  appears  to 
be  the  best.  The  first  point  to  be  weighed  is  the  amount  of 
honey  that  has  been  stored.  Other  things  being  equal,  the 
queen  whose  workers  have  shown  themselves  the  best  storers  will 
have  the  preference.  The  matter  of  wintering  will  pretty  much 
take  care  of  itself,  for  a  colony  that  has  wintered  poorly  is  not 
likely  to  do  very  heavy  work  in  the  harvest.  The  more  a  colony 
has  done  in  the  way  of  making  preparations  for  swarming,  the 


220 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


lower  will  be  its  standing.  Generally,  however,  a  colony  that 
gives  the  largest  number  of  sections  is  one  that  never  dreamed 
of  swarming. 


BREEDING  FROM  BEST. 

I  am  well  aware  that  I  will  be  told  by  some  that  I  am 
choosing  freak  queens  from  which  to  rear,  and  that  it -would  be 
much  better  to  select  a  queen  whose  royal  daughters  showed 
uniform  results  only  a  little  above  the  average.  I  don’t  know 
enough  to  know  whether  that  is  true  or  not,  but  I  know  that 
some  excellent  results  have  been  obtained  by  breeders  of  other 
animals  by  breeding  from  sires  or  dams  so  exceptional  in 
character  that  they  might  be  called  freaks.  I  know,  too,  that 
it  is  easier  to  decide  which  colony  does  best  work  than  it  is  to 
decide  which  queen  produces  royal  progeny  the  most  nearly 
uniform  in  character.  By  the  first  way,  too,  a  queen  can  be 
used  a  year  sooner  than  by  the  second  way,  and  a  year  in  the 
life  of  a  queen  is  a  good  deal.  I  may  mention  that  a  queen 
which  has  a  fine  record  for  two  successive  seasons  is  preferred 
to  one  with  the  same  kind  of  record  for  only  one  season.  At 
any  rate,  the  results  obtained  in  the  way  of  improvement  of 
stock  as  a  result  of  my  practice  have  been  such  as  to  warrant 
me  in  its  continuance  at  least  for  a  time. 

The  danger  from  inbreeding  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  en¬ 
tirely.  With  two  or  three  hundred  colonies  kept  in  three  differ¬ 
ent  apiaries  it  is  perhaps  not  great.  Should  signs  of  degeneracy 
at  any  time  appear,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  introduce  fresh 
blood. 


CONDITIONS  FOR  QUEEN-REARING. 

Having  chosen  the  queen  from  which  to  rear,  I  have  kept 
in  mind  that  unless  conditions  are  favorable  the  royal  progeny 
of  the  best  queen  in  the  world  may  be  very  poor.  Queen-cells 
must  be  started  when  the  weather  is  sufficiently  warm,  when 
bees  are  gathering  enough  to  make  them  feel  that  there  is  no 
need  to  stint  the  royal  larvaa  in  their  rations,  and  until  near  the 
point  of  emergence  it  is  much  better  that  the  cells  shall  be  in 
the  care  of  a  strong  colony.  So  I  do  not  begin  operations  for 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


221 


queen-rearing  until  about  the  time  that  bees  inclined  to  swarm¬ 
ing  would  begin  to  make  preparations  therefor. 

REARING  QUEENS  IN  HIVE  WITH  LAYING  QUEEN. 

It  would  be  too  long  a  story  to  enumerate  all  the  plans  I 
have  used  in  queen-rearing.  I  have  reared  excellent  queens,  and 
many  of  them,  by  the  Alley  plan  and  by  the  Doolittle  cell-cup 
plan,  together  with  its  modifications  by  Pridgen  and  others. 


Fig.  80. — Cleated  Smoker. 

I  think  I  was  the  first  one  to  report  rearing  a  queen  in  a  colony 
having  a  laying  queen ;  and  I  have  reared  them  in  stories  under 
as  well  as  over  the  story  having  the  laying  queen.  Neither  is  it 
absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  queen-excluder  between  the 
stories.  In  lieu  of  an  excluder  I  have  used  a  cloth  with  room 
for  passage  at  the  corners.  Neither  excluder  nor  cloth  is  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary;  distance  is  enough.  That  first  reported  case 
was  on  this  wise : 


222 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Upon  a  hive  containing  a  colony  had  been  piled  four  stories 
of  empty  combs  for  safe  keeping.  To  make  sure  that  the  bees 
would  not  neglect  the  care  of  the  most  distant  combs,  I  put  a 
frame  of  brood  in  the  upper  story.  A  few  weeks  later  I  found 
a  laying  queen  in  the  upper  story  with  the  old  queen  still  below. 
The  bees  that  had  gone  up  to  that  frame  of  brood  were  so  far 
from  the  queen  that  they  had  reared  a  queen  of  their  own.  A 
hole  in  the  upper  story  had  allowed  the  flight  of  the  young 
queen  without  invading  the  domains  of  her  mother.  For  those 
who  produce  extracted  honey  this  plan  might  be  used  to  ad¬ 
vantage. 


UNQUEENING  COLONY  TO  START  CELLS. 

I  have  reared  good  queens  by  the  old  and  simple  plan  of 
taking  away  the  queen  of  a  strong  colony.  Of  course  this  must 
be  a  choice  queen.  Previous  to  the  removal  of  the  queen  the 
colony  is  strengthened.  Frames  of  well-advanced  brood  are 
from  time  to  time  given  from  other  colonies  until  it  has  two — 
perhaps  three — stories  of  brood.  None  of  this  brood,  however, 
is  given  less  than  five  or  six  days  before  the  removal  of  the 
queen.  The  queen  is  taken  with  two  frames  of  brood  and  ad¬ 
hering  bees  and  put  on  a  new  stand  in  an  empty  hive,  an  empty 
comb  and  one  with  some  honey  being  added. 

TIME  TO  START  NUCLEI. 

« 

In  nine  or  ten  days  from  the  removal  of  the  queen  it  is 
time  to  break  up  the  queenless  colony  into  nuclei.  It  might 
generally  be  left  till  a  day  or  two  later  before  a  young  queen 
would  come  out  to  destroy  her  baby  sisters  in  their  cradles,  but 
it  is  best  to  take  no  chances.  If  it  were  true,  as  formerly  be¬ 
lieved,  that  queenless  bees  are  in  such  haste  to  rear  a  queen  that 
they  will  select  a  larva  too  old  for  the  purpose,  then  it  would 
hardly  do  to  wait  even  nine  days.  A  queen  is  matured  in  fifteen 
days  from  the  time  the  egg  is  laid,  and  is  fed  throughout  her 
larval  lifetime  on  the  same  food  that  is  given  to  a  worker-larva 
during  the  first  three  days  of  its  larval  existence.  So  a  worker- 
larva  more  than  three  days  old,  or  more  than  six  days  from 
the  laying  of  the  egg,  would  be  too  old  for  a  good  queen.  If, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


223 


now,  the  bees  should  select  a  larva  more  than  three  days  old, 
the  queen  would  emerge  in  less  than  nine  days.  I  think  no  one 
has  ever  known  this  to  occur. 


Fig.  81. — Bobber  Bees. 

BEES  DO  NOT  PREFER  TOO  OLD  LARVAE. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  bees  do  not  use  such  poor  judgment  as 
to  select  larvae  too  old  when  larvae  sufficiently  young  are  present, 
as  I  have  proven  by  direct  experiment  and  many  observations. 
It  will  not  do,  however,  to  conclude  from  this  that  all  queen-cells 
started  by  a  queenless  colony  left  to  themselves  will  be  equally 
good.  Bees  have  a  fashion  of  starting  cells  for  a  number  of 
days  in  succession,  and  will  continue  to  start  them  when  larvae 
sufficiently  young  for  good  queens  are  no  longer  present.  So 


224 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


some  means  must  be  taken  to  make  sure  that  no  nucleus  has  for 
its  sole  dependence  one  of  these  latest  cells.  If  several  cells 
can  be  afforded  for  each  nucleus,  there  is  little  danger  they  will  - 
all  be  bad.  Neither  is  there  great  danger  if  a  cell  is  chosen 
which  is  large  and  fine-looking.  Perhaps  the  safer  way  is  to 
give  the  queenless  colony  a  frame  with  eggs  and  young  brood 
three  or  four  days  after  the  removal  of  the  queen,  and  then  they 
will  not  be  obliged  to  use  the  old  larvae  of  the  other  comb. 

PLACING  QUEEN-CELLS. 

Two  or  three  frames  of  brood  with  adhering  bees  are  taken 
for  each  nucleus.  If  one  of  the  frames  has  a  cell  or  several 
cells  in  a  good  location,  well  and  good.  If  not,  the  lack  must 
be  supplied.  But  the  cells  must  be  where  they  will  be  sure  to 
be  well  cared  for.  They  must  not  be  on  the  outer  edge  of  a 
comb,  with  the  chance  to  be  chilled,  neither  must  they  be  on  tbe 
outer  side  of  the  comb,  but  on  the  side  of  the  comb  that  faces 
the  other  comb.  Any  cells  that  are  not  just  where  they  are 
wanted  must  be  cut  out.  For  this  purpose  I  like  a  tea-knife 
with  a  very  thin  and  narrow  blade  of  steel. 

STAPLING  CELLS  ON  COMB. 

A  staple,  such  as  is  used  to  fasten  a  bottom-board  to  a 
hive,  is  used  to  fasten  a  cell  in  place.  The  cell  is  placed  where 
it  is  wanted,  then  the  staple  is  placed  over  it,  one  leg  of  the 
staple  close  to  the  cell,  and  the  other  leg  is  pushed  deep  into 
the  comb  (Fig.  85). 

MAKING  BEES  STAY  IN  NUCLEI. 

Each  nucleus  is  put  upon  a  stand  of  its  own,  and  the  en¬ 
trance  is  plugged  up  with  leaves  so  that  no  bee  can  get  out. 
One  of  the  nuclei,  however,  is  left  without  having  its  entrance 
closed,  and  this  is  put  in  the  place  of  the  hive  which  contains 
the  queen,  and  the  hive  with  the  queen  is  put  back  on  the  old 
stand  from  which  the  queen  was  first  taken.  The  entrances  may 
be  left  closed  until  the  shrinking  of  the  leaves  allows  the  bees 
to  make  their  way  out,  but  I  generally  open  them  in  about 
twenty-four  hours,  first  pounding  on  the  hive  to  make  the  bees 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


225 


mark  their  location  upon  emerging.  Although  queenless  bees 
are  much  better  than  others  at  staying  wherever  they  are  put, 
there  will  be  still  fewer  bees  return  to  the  old  place  if  the 
nucleus  is  fastened  in  twenty-four  hours  or  longer. 

o 

LOOKING  FOR  EGGS. 

Twelve  or  fourteen  days  after  forming  the  nuclei  I  look  to 
see  if  the  queens  are  laying.  I  might  find  eggs  in  less  time,  but 
not  always,  and  at  any  rate  not  in  considerable  number,  and  it 


Fig.  82. — Bees  Playing. 


saves  time  on  the  whole  not  to  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  If 
no  eggs  are  found  a  comb  of  young  brood  is  given  as  an  en¬ 
couragement  to  start  the  young  queen  to  laying,  and  a  day  or 
two  later,  if  queen-cells  are  started  on  this  young  brood,  a  ma¬ 
ture  queen-cell  is  given. 

KEEPING  BEST  QUEEN  IN  NUCLEUS. 

Instead  of  having  my  best  queen  in  a  strong  colony,  as  in 
the  plan  just  given,  she  is  usually  kept  in  a  two-frame  nucleus 
throughout  the  summer,  the  nucleus  being  strengthened  into  a 


226 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


full  colony  in  the  fall  for  wintering.  One  object  of  this  is  to 
make  the  queen  live  longer.  It  is  generally  understood  that  a 
worker  lives  a  longer  time  if  it  has  little  work  to  do,  and  prob¬ 
ably  the  same  is  true  of  a  queen.  As  laying  eggs  is  her  work, 
the  less  the  number  of  eggs  she  lays  the  longer  she  ought  to  live, 
and  in  a  nucleus  she  laj^s  a  smaller  number  of  eggs  than  in  a 
strong  colony. 

There  is  another  reason  for  keeping  her  in  a  nucleus. 
Some  who  have  tried  to  have  comb  built  in  the  colony  containing 
their  best  queen  complain  that  they  can  get  only  drone-comb 
built.  That  may  be  avoided  by  filling  the  frame  with  worker- 
foundation,  but  the  better  way  is  to  keep  the  colony  with  the 
queen  so  weak  that  only  worker-comb  will  be  built.  In  a  nu¬ 
cleus  only  worker-comb  will  be  built. 

STARTING  BROOD  FOR  CELLS. 

Having  my  breeding  queen  in  a  two-frame  nucleus,  I  take 
away  one  of  the  combs,  and  in  its  place  put  a  frame  in  which 
are  two  small  starters  four  or  five  inches  long  and  an  inch  or  two 
wide.  One  of  these  starters  is  put  about  four  inches  from  each 
end  (Fig.  86).  The  nucleus  must  be  strong  enough  in  bees  so 
that  a  week  later  this  frame  will  have  a  comb  built  in  it  that 
will  fill  most  of  the  frame,  the  comb  being  fairly  well  filled  with 
eggs  and  young  brood  (Fig.  88).  It  is  taken  away,  and  another 
frame  with  two  small  starters  put  in  its  place  as  before.  Thus 
this  nucleus  will  furnish  once  a  week  a  frame  of  comb  with 
brood  of  the  best  sort  for  queen-rearing.  It  will  be  a  day  or  so 
after  the  frame  is  given  before  the  queen  lays  in  it,  so  that  the 
brood  will  not  be  too  old  even  if  the  bees  were  so  foolish  as  to 
prefer  it. 

The  comb  being  new  and  tender  makes  it  probably  an 
easier  job  for  the  bees  to  build  queen-cells  upon  it;  at  any  rate 
they  always  show  a  preference  for  such  comb,  and  start  on  it  a 
larger  number  of  cells  than  they  would  on  older  comb. 

BEES  FOR  CELL-BUILDING. 

Having  now  arranged  for  the  right  kind  of  brood  and 
eggs  to  be  ready  on  the  same  day  of  each  week,  the  next 
thing  is  to  find  the  right  kind  of  bees  to  start  the  cells,  not 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


227 


only  to  start  them,  but  to  take  the  very  best  care  of  them.  We 
can  probably  find  no  bees  better  fitted  to  produce  good  queen- 
cells  than  those  that  of  their  own  accord  have  already  engaged 
in  the  business.  So  a  strong  colony  is  chosen  which  has  already 
started  queen-cells  in  preparation  for  swarming.  All  queen- 
cells  already  started  are  destroyed,  the  queen  is  removed,  and 


Fig.  83. — Bee-Dress. 


one  of  the  frames  is  taken  away,  leaving  a  vacancy  in  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  hive.  Most  likely  the  colony  has  one  or  more  supers, 
but  these  are  not  to  be  taken  away. 

BROOD  FOR  QUEEN-CELLS. 

We  now  go  to  the  nucleus  containing  our  best  queen,  take 
out  the  frame  with  the  virgin  comb,  and  replace  it  with  an 


228 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


empty  frame  with  its  two  starters,  brushing  back  into  the  hive 
the  bees  from  the  comb  taken  out,  and  closing  the  hive.  Look¬ 
ing  at  the  comb  taken  out,  you  will  see  that,  instead  of  the  old¬ 
est  brood  being  in  the  center,  it  will  be  in  the  two  places  where 
the  two  starters  were  put.  It  was  for  this  purpose  the  two 
starters  at  the  sides  were  given  rather  than  a  central  one.  For 
by  this  means  the  waving  contour  will  give  opportunity  for  a 
larger  number  of  queen-cells  on  the  edge  of  the  comb  than  would 
otherwise  be  the  case. 

TRIMMING  THE  BREEDING-COMB. 

For  a  little  distance  at  the  edge,  the  comb  contains  eggs 
only.  This  part  is  trimmed  away,  leaving  the  youngest  of  the 
brood  at  the  edge  of  the  comb  (Fig.  89).  One  reason  for  this  is 
that,  other  things  being  equal,  the  bees  show  a  decided  prefer¬ 
ence  for  building  on  the  edge  of  a  comb.  Another  reason  is 
that  I  decidedly  prefer  to  have  cells  on  the  edge,  thus  making 
them  easier  to  cut  out  when  wanted.  The  part  cut  away  would 
only  be  in  the  way  of  both  of  us. 

BEES  USING  YOUNG  LARVAE  ONLY. 

When  a  queen  is  taken  away  from  a  full  colony,  the  bees 
start  cells  from  young  brood,  and,  as  I  have  already  said,  they 
continue  to  start  fresh  cells  for  several  days,  and  until  after 
there  is  no  longer  brood  of  the  proper  age,  so  that  the  last  cells 
started  would  contain  larvae  too  old  to  make  good  queens.  But 
on  these  combs  prepared  as  I  have  described,  they  do  not  do  so. 
Rarely,  if  ever,  will  a  cell  be  found  elsewhere  than  on  the  edge 
of  the  comb,  and  I  have  never  known  the  bees  to  start  a  cell 
after  the  larvae  were  too  old.  I  do  not  know  why  there  is  this 
difference.  I  only  know  the  fact.  But  it  is  a  very  convenient 
fact. 


AGE  OF  LARVAE  FOR  QUEENS. 

Scientists  tell  us  that  a  worker-larva  is  fed  for  three  days 
the  same  as  a  queen-larva,  and  then  it  is  weaned.  Theoretically, 
then,  up  to  the  time  a  larva  in  a  worker-cell  is  three  days  old, 
it  ought  to  be  all  right  to  rear  a  queen  from.  Practically,  I  do 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


229 


not  believe  a  larva  three  days  old  is  as  good  as  a  younger  one. 
The  only  reason  I  have  for  so  believing  is  the  expressed  pref¬ 
erence  of  the  bees  themselves.  Give  them  larvae  of  all  ages 
from  which  to  select,  and  they  always  choose  that  which  is  two 
days  old,  or  younger.  Indeed,  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  comb 


from  which  I  have  trimmed  the  edge  (Fig.  89)  the  larvae  on  the 
edge  of  the  comb  have  been  out  of  the  egg  but  a  short  time,  for 
I  merely  trimmed  away  the  eggs,  and  possibly  not  all  of  them. 


PLACING  THE  BREEDING-COMB. 

The  breeding-comb,  thus  properly  trimmed,  is  taken  to  the 
queenless  colony,  and  put  in  t lie  vacancy  that  was  left  for  it. 
On  the  top-bar  of  the  frame  is  penciled  the  date  on  which  the 


230 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


cells  are  to  be  cut  out,  allowing  ten  days  from  tlm  time  of  put¬ 
ting  in.  Thus,  if  the  frame  be  given  June  27,  the  number  7  is 
put  on  the  top-bar,  July  7  being  ten  days  later  than  June  27. 
No  need  to  put  the  month  on.  Besides  giving  the  date,  that 
figure  marks  the  frame,  so  I  can  know  at  a  glance  which  frame 
to  take  out.  At  the  same  time  a  memorandum  of  this  date  is 
put  in  the  record  book  to  remind  me  when  to  cut  the  cells. 

Some  one  may  ask,  “  But  if  you  leave  nearly  all  the  old 
brood  in  the  hive,  will  the  bees  not  start  cells  on  them,  with  only 


Fig.  85. — Queen-Cell  Stapled  on  Comb. 


the  smaller  part  on  your  breeding-comb?”  So  I  thought  at 
first,  and  took  some  pains  to  have  no  very  young  brood  of  the 
old  stock  left.  But  I  found  upon  trial  that  when  I  loft  all  the 
young  brood  of  the  old  stock,  the  bees  ignored  this,  at  the  most 
starting  upon  it  one,  two,  possibly  three  cells,  confining  their  at¬ 
tention  to  the  prepared  frame  I  had  given.  Probably  the  hard¬ 
ness  of  the  old  combs  and  the  lack  of  convenient  places  in  which 
to  build  cells  convince  the  bees  that  it  is  better  to  use  the  soft 
comb  where  room  is  abundant.  Of  course  a  cell  or  two  on  the 
old  combs  can  do  no  great  harm,  for  they  will  not  be  used. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


231 


MORE  THAN  ONE  NUCLEUS  IN  HIVE. 

The  frames  for  nuclei  are  the  regular  full-sized  frames, 
and  a  full  hive  may  be  used  for  each  nucleus,  but  it  is  economy 
to  have  the  hive  divided  up  into  two  or  three  compartments  for 
as  many  nuclei.  Three  nuclei  in  one  hive  are  mutually  helpful 
in  keeping  up  the  heat,  and  thus  it  is  possible  to  have  the  nuclei 
weaker  than  if  each  nucleus  were  by  itself,  while  results  are  as 
good  with  the  three  weaker  nuclei  in  the  one  hive  as  with  three 
stronger  nuclei  in  three  separate  hives. 

NUCLEUS-HIVE. 

For  many  years  I  have  had  hives  divided  into  two  or  more 
compartments,  and  have  had  much  trouble  from  the  bees  find¬ 
ing  a  passage  from  one  compartment  to  another,  but  my  latest 
nucleus  hives  have  not  troubled  in  that  way.  They  are  made 
from  ordinary  8-frame  hives  together  with  the  2-inch-deep  bot¬ 
tom-board.  First,  two  pieces  are  nailed  on  the  inside  of  the 
bottom-board,  each  piece  lS^xl^xyg.  One  piece  nailed  4^ 
inches  from  one  side,  the  other  414  inches  from  the  other  side. 
These  pieces  do  not  lie  flat  in  the  oottom,  but  stand  on  edge, 
with  1%  inches  between  them.  Then  the  hive  is  fastened  on 
the  bottom-board  with  the  four  usual  staples.  Two  division- 
boards,  each  lS^xt^xS-lG,  are  now  put  in  place  and  crowded 
down  tight  upon  the  two  pieces  in  the  bottom-board.  These 
two  division-boards  are  4%  inches  from  each  side,  leaving  21/4 
inches  between  them.  The  four  spaces  at  the  top,  at  the  ends 
of  the  division-boards,  are  closed  by  blocks  %xV2x5-16,  whit¬ 
tled  enough  to  allow  them  to  be  wedged  into  place.  Light  144- 
inch  wire  nails  are  driven  through  from  the  outside  to  hold  the 
division-boards  in  place.  A  block  10x2x%  is  pushed  into  the 
entrance  centrally,  and  held  there  by  a  nail  lightly  driven  in 
front  of  it.  That  leaves  an  entrance  at  each  end  of  the  block 
for  the  two  side  compartments,  but  no  entrance  for  the  middle 
compartment.  For  this  purpose  an  inch  hole  is  bored  in  the 
back  end  of  the  hive  midway  between  the  two  corners,  its  center 
being  about  three  inches  from  the  upper  surface  of  the  hive. 
Three  boards  of  half-inch  stuff  cover  the  three  compartments, 
and  over  this  is  an  ordinary  hive-cover. 


232 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


At  Fig.  90  will  be  seen  a  bottom-board  for  a  nucleus  hive. 
\  ou  will  notice  that  the  two  pieces  that  run  lengthwise  through 
the  center  of  the  bottom-board  are  a  quarter  of  an  inch  shal¬ 
lower  than  the  rim  of  the  bottom-board.  If  they  were  2  inches 
deep  instead  of  1%,  the  bottom-bars  of  the  frames  would  rest 
directly  on  them.  Of  course  the  division-boards  are  deep 
enough  to  come  clear  down  upon  these  two  pieces. 


Fig.  86. — Starters  in  Breeding-Frame. 


.  Two  nucleus-hives  will  be  seen  at  Fig.  91.  The  one  at  the 
right  faces  us,  showing  the  entrance  at  each  side.  The  back  of 
the  left  hive  is  toward  us,  showing  the  round  hole  near  the  top, 
which  serves  as  an  entrance  to  the  middle  compartment. 

LARGE  SPACE  FOR  MIDDLE  FRAME. 

r  '  *  .  . .  , 

In  one  of  these  side  compartments  there  is  abundant  room 
for  two  frames  and  a  dummy,  and  three  frames  without  the 
dummy  can  with  care  be  crowded  in.  The  central  compartment 
will  of  course  take  only  one  frame.  It  seems  as  though  2 14 
inches  is  quite  too  much  space  for  one  frame,  but  I  use  that 
space  advisedly.  Many  years  ago  I  made  a  nucleus  hive  with  six 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


233 


compartments;  and  at  that  time,  not  having  had  much  experi¬ 
ence,  I  made  each  compartment  2}4  inches  wide.  Years  after¬ 
ward  I  made  another  nucleus  hive;  and,  smiling  at  my  former 
ignorance  and  congratulating  myself  upon  the  superior  knowl¬ 
edge  I  had  gained  with  the  passing  years,  I  made  the  compart¬ 
ments  more  nearly  in  accord  with  the  usual  space  occupied  by 
each  frame  in  a  hive,  making  each  compartment — I’m  not  sure 
whether  it  was  1%  or  1%.  At  any  rate,  the  bees  swarmed  out 
of  these  limited  quarters  to  such  an  extent  that  I  could  not  use 
them,  whereas  they  had  not  swarmed  out  of  the  2*4  compart¬ 
ments;  neither  have  they  swarmed  out  of  these  later  ones. 
Having  so  much  room  in  these  central  compartments,  the  bees 
sometimes  build  pieces  of  comb  on  the  sides  which  I  must  clean 
away,  but  that  is  better  than  to  have  them  swarm  out. 

CONTENTS  OF  NUCLEUS  HIVES. 

A  nucleus  hive  is  tenanted  by  a  two-frame  nucleus  on  each 
side  and  a  one-frame  nucleus  in  the  middle.  Care  is  taken  to 
choose  one  of  the  best  frames  of  brood  for  the  middle  nucleus, 
and  perhaps  a  few  extra  bees  are  brushed  in.  A  third  comb 
may  be  put  in  each  of  the  side  compartments,  or  a  dummy,  the 
same  as  the  dummies  used  in  the  regular  hives. 

MAKING  THE  BEES  STAY. 

When  populated,  the  entrances  of  the  nuclei  are  plugged  up 
with  green  leaves.  These  are  generally  taken  away  twenty-four 
hours  later,  after  the  hives  are  pounded  to  stir  up  the  bees,  but 
if  they  are  neglected  the  leaves  will  dry  and  shrink  so  the  bees 
can  make  their  way  out.  It  is  better  to  form  nuclei  with  queen¬ 
less  bees,  for  they  are  not  so  much  inclined  as  others  to  go  back 
to  their  old  place. 

BABY  NUCLEI. 

There  has  ’  been  much  interest  in  the  matter  of  having 
queens  fertilized  in  small  nuclei  containing  only  200  bees  or  so. 
About  the  year  1863  I  had  seen  miniature  nuclei  in  the  apiaries 
of  Adam  Grimm,  but  they  had  not  so  few  bees  as  the  so-called 
baby  nuclei  of  to-day.  Of  course,  I  had  a  number  of  queens 
fertilized  in  baby  nuclei,  but  I  did  not  go  to  the  trouble  of  hav- 


234 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ing  hives  specially  built  for  them.  I  merely  used  an  8-frame 
dovetailed  hive,  putting  in  it  sometimes  a  1-pound  section 
nearly  filled  with  honey,  and  sometimes  two  such  sections  side 
by  side.  A  frame  of  brood  with  its  adhering  bees  was  taken 
from  some  colony,  the  bees  shaken  or  brushed  into  the  nucleus- 
hive  quickly,  a  virgin  not  more  than  a  day  or  two  old  dropped 
into  the  hive  among  the  bees  and  all  hastily  closed,  the  en¬ 
trance  having  been  closed  in  advance.  Of  course,  the  frame  of 
beeless  brood  was  returned  to  its  old  place.  Three  days  later 
the  entrance  was  opened,  and  in  due  time  the  queen  was  laying. 

However  it  may  be  for  the  commercial  queen-rearer,  for 
the  honey-producer  there  seems  no  great  advantage  in  baby 
nuclei.  He  generally  needs  to  make  some  increase,  and  it  is 
more  convenient  for  him  to  use  2  or  3  frame  nuclei  for  queen¬ 
rearing,  and  then  build  them  up  into  full  colonies. 

REGULAR  HIVES  FOR  NUCLEI. 

O'  ’ 

One  year  I  tried  rearing  queens  on  a  commercial  scale,  pro¬ 
ducing  them  for  Editor  G.  W.  York,  of  the  American  Bee 
Journal.  I  may  say,  parenthetically,  that  one  season  was 
enough  to  convince  me  it  was  best  to  stick  to  honey-production, 
rearing  queens  only  for  my  own  use.  But  I  had  50  three-com¬ 
partment  hives  left  on  hand;  and  in  spite  of  that,  truth  compels 
me  to  say  that  latterly  they  generally  lie  idle,  and  I  use  a  full 
hive  for  each  nucleus,  merely  putting  3  or  4  frames  in  one  side 
of  the  hive,  with  a  dummy  beside  them.  To  be  sure,  it  takes 
more  bees  than  to  have  three  nuclei  in  one  hive,  but  it  is  a  good 
bit  more  convenient  to  build  up  into  a  full  colony  a  nucleus 
that  has  the  whole  hive  to  itself. 

QUEEN-CAGE. 

When  we  go  to  give  queen-cells  to  the  nuclei,  we  are  pro¬ 
vided  with  introducing  queen-cages.  The  first  introducing- 
cage  I  devised  was  the  Miller  introducing-cage,  listed  in  the 
catalogs  of  supply-dealers.  Then  I  got  up  one  I  liked  better, 
three  of  which  are  shown  in  Fig.  92,  the  blocks  containing  the 
cand}^  being  separate  from  the  cages.  This  may  be  called 
Miller  cage  No.  2.  Two  blocks  3  inches  by  %  by  %  and  a  piece 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


235 


of  wire  cloth  G^x  1%,  form  the  material  for  the  cage.  Lay  the 
two  blocks  parallel  on  their  edges,  and  nail  on  these  one  end  of 
the  wire  cloth,  the  end  of  the  wire  cloth  corresponding  with  the 
ends  of  the  blocks.  Fold  the  wire  cloth  around  the  ends  of  the 
blocks  and  nail  it  on  the  other  side,  and  you  have  a  cage 
3xl%x}4,  outside  measure.  The  plug  to  close  the  cage  is  not 


Fig.  87. — Putting  Foundation  in  Sections. 

so  simple,  for  the  cage  is  to  be  provisioned,  and  the  plug  holds 
the  candy.  Two  blocks  l-^x^x^,  a  piece  of  tin  and  a  piece  of 
section  stuff  each  iy4  inches  square  form  the  material  for  the 
plug.  Lay  the  two  blocks  parallel  on  their  sides,  with  y4  inch 
space  between  them.  On  these  nail  the  piece  of  tin,  turn  over, 
and  nail  on  the  section  stuff.  Near  one  end  drive  a  tack  partly 


236 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


in  to  prevent  the  plug  going  too  far  into  the  cage.  That  makes 
all  complete. 

After  using  these  for  some  years,  I  got  up  another  that  in 
some  respects  1  like  still  better.  This  is  shown  in  Fig.  87%, 
and  may  be  called  Miller  cage  No.  3.  Make  a  block  3%xl%x- 
5-16.  From  one  side  of  the  block,  at  one  end,  cut  out  a  piece 
11/2X%,  making  the  block  as  shown  at  No.  1,  Fig.  87%.  Cut  a 
piece  of  tin  1x2  inches.  Stand  the  block  on  edge  with  the  cut¬ 
out  place  uppermost,  and  in  this  cut-out  place  lay  a  lead  pencil 
or  similar  object  11-32  in  diameter.  Over  this  bend  the  tin, 
letting  it  come  out  flush  with  the  end  of  the  block.  Then  laying 
the  block  on  its  side,  still  keeping  the  pencil  in  place,  drive  two 
%-in ch  wire  nails  through  tin  and  wood,  clinching  on  the  oppo¬ 
site  side.  When  the  pencil  is  withdrawn  there  is  left  a  tube  to 
be  filled  with  candy.  That  completes  the  plug  (No.  2,  Fig. 
87%).  The  cage  itself  is  made  of  a  piece  of  wire  cloth  4  inches 
square,  if  one  edge  is  a  selvedge.  If  there  is  no  selvedge,  it 
must  be  4x4%  and  %  inch  folded  over  as  a  selvedge  to  prevent 
raveling.  A  block  must  be  made,  not  to  be  part  of  the  cage,  but 
to  be  used  to  form  the  wire  cloth  over.  It  must  be  a  little 
larger  than  the  first  block,  say  5x1  3-16x%.  If  the  block  were 
the  same  size  as  the  first,  there  would  be  too  tight  a  fit,  and  if 
the  fit  be  loose  it  is  easy  to  wedge  in  a  thin  slip,  as  a  piece  of 
wood  separator.  The  wire  cloth  is  wrapped  around  the  block 
and  allowed  to  project  at  one  end  about  %  inch.  A  light  wire  is 
wound  twice  around,  about  %  inch  from  the  selvedge  end 
(which  is  the  part  that  does  not  project)  and  fastened.  An¬ 
other  wire  is  similarly  fastened  about  1%  inches  from  the  first 
wire.  Now  the  projecting  part  of  the  wire  cloth  is  bent  down 
upon  the  end  of  the  block,  and  hammered  down  with  a  hammer. 
That  completes  the  cage  (No.  3,  Fig.  87%),  but  for  convenience 
in  hanging  it  between  brood-frames  one  end  of  a  light  wire  7  or 
8  inches  long  is  fastened  into  one  side  of  the  cage  about  %  inch 
from  the  open  end.  To  put  it  in  a  hive,  I  shove  the  frames 
apart,  and  holding  the  end  of  the  wire  lower  the  cage  where  I 
want  it,  and  then  shove  the  frames  together.  That  leaves  3 
inches  or  more  of  the  wire  above  the  top-bars,  and  when  I  want 
to  take  out  the  cage  I  take  hold  of  the  wire,  draw  the  frames 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


237 


apart,  and  lift  out  the  cage.  The  wire  serves  also  to  mark  the 
spot  where  the  cage  is. 

When  the  tube  is  filled  with  candy,  it  may  be  pushed  so  far 
into  the  cage  that  the  bees  can  not  get  at  the  candy.  Then  when 
it  is  desired  that  the  bees  shall  get  at  the  candy,  the  plug  is 
drawn  out  until  the  candy  is  exposed  (No.  5,  Fig.  8 T1/?).  This 
is  more  reliable  as  to  time  than  to  have  the  usual  cage  with  the 
candy  covered  with  card-board.  With  the  card-board  there  is 


Fig.  87^2. — Miller  Cage  No.  3. 

no  certainty  as  to  whether  the  queen  will  be  released  in  24 
hours  or  much  longer.  Sometimes  it  may  be  several  days. 
With  the  No.  3  cage  you  know  just  how  long  the  bees  have  the 
cage  before  they  get  to  the  candy,  and  after  the  candy  is  ex¬ 
posed  you  may  count  on  the  bees  clearing  out  the  candy  in 
about  24  hours. 

It  may  be  objected  that  it  is  troublesome  to  open  up  the 
hive  to  change  the  position  of  the  plug  in  the  cage.  That  is 


238 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


true,  and  often,  if  not  generally,  the  cage  is  not  put  between 
the  combs,  but  thrust  in  the  entrance,  making  sure  that  it  is 
where  it  will  be  protected  by  the  bees.  After  being  there  about 
two  days,  it  is  only  the  work  of  a  minute  to  take  out  the  cage, 
expose  the  candy,  and  put  the  cage  back  in  the  entrance. 

Sometimes,  if  I  want  to  have  the  work  done  automatically, 
I  use  a  device  that  delays  the  work  about  as  much  as  the  card¬ 
board,  but  is  more  uniform  in  the  time  it  takes.  I  thrust  into 
the  center  of  the  tube  of  candy  its  whole  length  a  wooden  splint 
about  1-16  of  an  inch  square,  and  that  delays  the  bees  at  gnaw¬ 
ing  out  the  candy. 

When  a  queen-cell  is  to  be  caged,  the  No.  2  cage  allows 
more  room  for  the  cell. 

For  making  queen-cages,  instead  of  the  common  painted 
wire  cloth  that  is  used  for  screen  doors,  I  like  better  extra  heavy 
bright  wire  cloth.  It  is  more  substantial.  But  E.  R.  Root  says 
queens  have  been  poiso-  ’  ^uch  cages,  so  have  a  care,  al¬ 
though  I  have  had  hundreds  ot  queens  in  them  without  noting 
any  harm.  Perhaps  all  tinned  wire  cloth  is  not  alike. 

DISTRIBUTING  QUEEN-CELLS. 

When  the  queen-cells  are  to  be  distributed,  the  first  thing 
is  to  provision  a  number  of  queen-cages  of  the  No.  2  style,  with 
the  usual  queen-candy,  tacking  a  piece  of  pasteboard  on  the 
end  of  the  plug.  Then  we  go  to  the  nucleus  where  the  cells  are 
stored,  cut  out  the  cells,  rejecting  any  that  do  not  appear  satis¬ 
factory,  and  put  the  cells  in  the  cages.  Some  cells,  however,  are 
left  uncaged.  When  we  come  to  a  nucleus  that  has  had  no 
queen  for  a  day  or  more,  there  is  no  need  of  caging  the  cell.  It 
is  put  against  the  comb  in  a  good  place,  and  fastened  there 
with  a  hive-staple  (Fig.  85).  Coming  to  a  nucleus  with  a 
queen  which  we  wish  to  remove,  we  put  the  queen  in  a  cage,  and 
give  the  nucleus  a  caged  cell,  laying  the  cage  against  the  comb 
and  nailing  it  there  with  a  IV2  or  134  wire  nail  (Fig.  93). 
This  nail  is  slender  so  as  to  push  easily  through  the  meshes  of 
the  wire  cloth.  Then  the  young  queens  that  we  have  removed 
are  used  wherever  needed. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


239 


BRUSHING  BEES  OFF  QUEEN-CELLS. 

Before  cutting  cells  from  the  comb  the  bees  muot  be  re¬ 
moved,  and  it  would  mean  the  ruin  of  the  cells  to  shake  the 
bees  off.  Brushing  with  a  Coggshall  brush,  although  it  might 
do  with  extreme  care,  would  be  likely  to  result  in  torn  cells. 
Even  something  no  stiffer  than  goldenrod  or  sweet  clover  needs 
much  care.  I  like  best  a  bunch  of  long  and  soft  June  grass — a 
very  flimsy  affair  to  use  as  a  brush,  but  it  is  safe. 


Fig.  88. — Comb  for  Queen-Cells. 

ADVANTAGE  OF  CAGING  CELLS. 

Of  course  the  object  of  caging  the  cells  is  to  prevent  the 
bees  from  tearing  them  down.  At  the  time  of  taking  a  queen 
out  of  a  nucleus,  if  a  cell  were  merely  stapled  on,  the  bees 
would  be  pretty  sure  to  destroy  it;  for,  not  yet  realizing  that 
.  their  young  laying  queen  has  been  taken  from  them,  they  feel  no 
need  of  anything  like  a  queen-cell.  So  the  cage  saves  the  time 
and  trouble  of  waiting  and  making  a  second  visit  another  day. 

There  is,  however,  another  advantage  in  using  the  cage, 
making  it  somewhat  desirable  to  use  it  in  all  cases.  We  often 
want  to  know  what  has  been  the  fate  of  a  cell,  and  can  generally 


240 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


tell  pretty  well  by  its  appearance.  If  it  has  the  appearance  of 
most  of  those  in  Fig.  94,  we  know  that  a  young  queen  has 
emerged  and  must  be  in  the  nucleus.  If  it  is  torn  open  in  the 
side,  like  the  one  at  the  extreme  right,  the  capping  being  still 
perfect,  we  are  sure  that  the  young  queen  in  it  was  destroyed 
by  the  bees. 

If  the  cells  have  merely  been  stapled  on,  the  bees  are  so 
prompt  about  removing  them  as  soon  as  they  are  no  longer  of 
any  use  that  scarce  a  vestige  of  them  is  left,  so  we  have  nothing 
to  judge  by.  But  when  a  cell  is  enclosed  in  a  cage,  the  bees  are 
very  slow  about  removing  it,  so  the  cage  gives  us  a  better  chance 
for  judging. 


APPEARANCE  OF  VACATED  CELLS. 

In  Fig.  94  the  three  first  cells  at  the  left  have  the  cap  still 
adhering  by  a  neck,  showing  that  it  has  been  only  a  short  time 
since  the  queen  emerged,  providing  the  cell  has  not  been  caged; 
if  it  has  been  caged  the  queen  may  have  been  out  some  time.  The 
fourth  cell  looks  entire,  as  if  it  yet  contained  a  young  queen. 
But  it  is  deceptive.  The  bees  have  a  trick  of  fastening  the  cap 
back  again  as  if  it  were  a  great  joke,  sometimes  thus  impris 
oning  one  of  their  own  number.  A  very  close  look  will  gen¬ 
erally  show  a  little  crack,  and  a  very  little  force  will  be  needed 
to  pick  the  cap  loose.  The  next  six  cells  show  plainly  that  a 
young  queen  has  emerged  from  each,  and  finding  a  cell  of  that 
kind  is  just  as  good  evidence  as  a  sight  of  the  queen ;  only  1 
would  a  little  rather  see  the  queen  for  the  bare  chance  that  she 
may  not  have  perfect  wings.  As  already  mentioned,  the  cell  at 
the  extreme  right  shows  by  the  hole  in  its  side  that  no  queen 
ever  came  out  of  it  alive. 

MILLER  QUEEN-NURSERY. 

Whatever  the  advantages  of  using  queen-cells  instead  of 
virgin  queens,  there  are  also  advantages  in  having  the  young 
queens  hatch  out  in  a  queen-nursery.  So  I  have  made  consider¬ 
able  use  of  a  nursery  of  my  own  devising,  Fig.  88^2-  It  may 
take  the  place  of  a  brood-frame  in  any  hive,  in  the  lower  story 
or  in  an  upper  story,  and  it  does  not  matter  whether  a  laying 
queen  is  in  the  hive  or  not. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


241 


For  this  nursery  I  use  a  regular  Miller  frame,  which  lends 
itself  to  the  purpose  admirably,  top-bar,  bottom-bar,  and  end- 
bar  being  all  of  the  same  width,  1%  inches.  If  you  haven’t  a 
Miller  frame,  you  can  easily  make  a  frame  having  all  parts  the 
same  width,  1  Yg  inches;  only  be  sure  the  end-bars  are  at  least 
%  thick,  and  have  the  outer  dimensions  of  the  frame  the  same 
as  the  frames  you  have  regularly  in  use.  I’ll  give  instructions 


Fig.  881/ 2. — Miller  Queen  Nursery. 

for  making  a  nursery  with  a  frame  of  the  Langstroth  size,  and 
if  your  frames  are  of  different  size  you  must  act  accordingly. 

Make  7  pieces,  each  long  enough  to  reach  from  top-bar  to 
bottom-bar  (with  top-bar  %  and  bottom-bar  )4,  that  makes  the 
length  8  inches),  1  Ys  wide,  and  %  thick.  Saw-kerfs  must  be 
made  on  each  side  of  these  7  pieces.  Beginning  1)4  inches 
from  one  end,  on  one  side  of  the  piece,  with  a  very  fine  sawT, 
make  a  saw -kerf  by  sawing  about  half-way  through.  Make  a 
similar  kerf  1)4  inches  from  the  first,  and  then,  each  time 


242 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


measuring  off  1%  inches,  make  3  more  kerfs,  making  5  in  all. 
(Your  last  kerf  will  be  more  than  1%  inches  from  the  end,  but 
that’s  all  right.)  Do  the  same  thing  on  the  opposite  side,  be¬ 
ginning  at  the  opposite  end.  Make  similar  kerfs  in  each  end- 
bar,  measuring  from  the  top-bar  for  one  end,  and  from  the  bot¬ 
tom-bar  for  the  other  end.  Of  course  these  kerfs  are  to  be 
made  on  the  inside  of  the  end-bar,  and  none  on  the  outside. 
Now  distribute  these  7  pieces  at  equal  distances  from  one  end 
of  the  frame  to  the  other,  and  if  you  are  exact  about  it  the  dis¬ 
tance  between  each  two  will  be  1  25-32  inches.  Fasten  these  7 
sticks  in  by  driving  one  nail  down  through  the  top-bar  into 
each,  and  two  nails  through  the  bottom-bar.  Before  nailing, 
make  sure  that  each  stick  faces  right,  as  mentioned  further  on. 
Nail  upon  one  side  of  your  frame  a  piece  of  wire  cloth  to  cover 
it  (17%x9%).  Have  the  nails  not  more  than  2  inches  apart  all 
around  and  on  each  stick.  I  use  bright  wire  cloth,  extra  heavy, 
with  meshes  of  the  usual  size  in  screen-doors. 

You  now  need  40  pieces  of  tin,  2x1%  inches  to  go  into  all 
the  saw-kerfs.  Each  piece  of  tin  serves  as  a  shelf,  thus  dividing 
up  the  whole  into  48  compartments.  You  will  now  see  the  ne¬ 
cessity  of  having  the  sticks  face  each  other  so  as  to  have  the 
kerfs  correspond,  as  mentioned  a  minute  ago.  Look  out  for  this 
before  you  nail  the  sticks  in  place. 

To  close  these  compartments,  you  need  8  pieces  of  tin,  each 
10x2  inches.  That’s  %  inch  longer  than  the  depth  of  the 
frame,  allowing  the  %  to  be  bent  over  at  right  angles  on  the  top- 
bar.  To  hold  these  covers  in  place  I  use  heavy  pins  bent  over. 
Small  screw-hooks  of  straight  pattern  might  do  better.  Three 
are  needed  in  each  end-bar,  and  6  in  each  upright.  Of  course 
these  tin  covers  are  put  in  at  the  top  and  slide  down. 

You  will  see  that  each  of  the  compartments  furnishes  a 
large  amount  of  room,  40  of  them  being  1  25-32xl%xl%,  and 
the  remaining  8  being  larger.  That  gives  abundance  of  room  to 
put  in  the  largest  kind  of  queen-cell.  With  each  cell  is  given 
a  ball  of  candy  the  size  of  a  pea. 

ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES  OF  A  QUEEN-NURSERY. 

Tf  a  ripe  queen-cell  is  given  to  a  nucleus  or  colony,  there  is 
no  way  to  be  sure  that  a  queen  that  is  all  right  will  issue  from 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


243 


it.  She  may  be  imperfect  as  to  her  legs,  and,  what  is  still 
worse,  her  wings  may  be  so  deficient  that  she  never  can  fly.  If 
she  can  not  fly  she  can  never  be  fertilized,  and  so  is  worthless. 
Indeed  she  is  worse  than  worthless,  for  she  is  wasting  the  time 
of  the  nucleus.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  happens  that  the  occu¬ 
pant  of  the  queen-cell  is  dead.  All  of  this  is  avoided  by  having 
the  virgins  hatch  out  in  a  nursery.  If  a  cell  is  cut  into,  and 
is  given  to  a  nucleus,  the  bees  will  at  once  destroy  it,  but  in  the 
nursery  it  will  hatch  out  all  right. 

One  may  have  a  lot  of  queen-cells  on  hand  with  no  immedi¬ 
ate  use  for  them.  It  will  not  do  to  leave  them  without  cutting 
out  beyond  a  certain  time,  for  the  hatching  out  of  the  first  one 
means  the  death  of  all  the  rest.  But  if  they  are  put  in  a  nursery 
they  are  safe,  and  may  be  left  stored  in  the  nursery  for  some 
days  after  hatching  out. 

Over  against  these  advantages  stands  the  one  disadvantage 
that  in  the  nursery  the  bees  are  not  allowed  to  come  in  immedi¬ 
ate  bodily  contact  with  the  cells,  nor  with  the  young  queen  after 
she  issues  from  the  cell.  Some  think  this  so  serious  a  disad¬ 
vantage  as  to  overbalance  all  the  advantages  of  the  nursery.  It 
is  claimed  that  the  clustering  of  the  bees  about  the  cells  and  the 
young  queens  does  more  than  merely  to  keep  up  the  temperatu  re 
to  a  certain  point,  and  that  when  this  close  contact  is  lacking 
something  will  be  lacking  in  the  resulting  queens.  Also  that 
the  young  queens  thus  isolated  and  imprisoned  are  in  a  fright¬ 
ened  condition,  and  that  a  young  queen  reared  in  such  an  atmos¬ 
phere  is  not  the  same  as  one  that  has  the  feeling  that  she  is  all 
the  while  closely  surrounded  by  friends. 

So  whether  it  be  wise  to  use  a  nursery  or  not,  it  will  cer¬ 
tainly  be  wise  not  to  put  cells  into  it  before  it  is  necessary  for 
their  safety,  nor  to  leave  a  virgin  in  a  nursery  any  longer  than 
necessity  demands. 


QUALITY  OF  QUEENS. 

The  question  has  been  raised  whether  queens  reared  in  the 
way  I  have  described  are  as  good  as  those  reared  by  the  latest 
methods.  I  think  I  can  judge  pretty  well  as  to  the  character  of 
a  queen  after  watching  her  work  for  a  year  or  two;  I  have 
kept  closely  in  touch  with  what  improvements  have  been  made 


244 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


in  the  way  of  queen-rearing,  and  have  reared  queens  by  tBe 
hundred  in  the  latest  style;  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that 
the  simple  method  I  have  given  produces  queens  that  can  not  be 
surpassed  by  any  other  method. 

BEGINNER  IMPROVING  STOCK. 

I  have  been  asked  whether  I  would  advise  a  beginner  with 
only  half  a  dozen  colonies,  one  of  them  having  a  superior  queen, 
to  use  the  plans  I  have  given  to  rear  queens  from  his  best  queen. 
I  certainly  should,  if  he  intends  to  give  much  attention  to  the 
business  and  increase  the  number  of  his  colonies.  The  essential 
steps  to  be  taken  are  simple  enough ;  and  even  a  beginner  can 
easily  follow  them.  But  in  a  few  words,  here  is  what  I  would 
advise  him: 

Take  from  the  colony  having  your  best  queen  one  of  its 
frames,  and  put  in  the  center  of  the  hive  a  frame  half  filled  or 
entirely  filled  with  foundation.  If  small  starters  are  used  in  a 
full  colony  the  bees  are  likely  to  fill  out  with  drone-comb.  A 
week  later  take  out  this  comb,  and  trim  away  the  edge  that  con¬ 
tains  only  eggs.  Put  this  prepared  frame  in  the  center  of  any 
strong  colony  after  taking  away  its  queen  and  one  of  its 
frames.  Ten  days  later  cut  out  these  cells,  to  be  used  wherever 
desired,  giving  the  colony  its  queen  or  some  other  queen. 

Now  there’s  nothing  very  complicated  about  that,  is  there? 

ITALIANIZING  WITH  NATURAL  SWARMING. 

Yet  still  there  are  some  who  don’t  want,  to  take  even  that 
much  trouble.  A  man  says :  “  All  I  care  to  do  with  the  bees  is 
to  hive  the  swarms  that  come  out,  and  to  put  on  the  surplus 
boxes  and  take  them  off  when  filled.  I  never  take  a  frame  out 
of  a  hive  any  more  than  if  they  were  all  box  hives.  But  I  have 
Italians  in  one  hive,  and  if  I  could  I’d  like  to  have  more  of  that 
stock.” 

For  such  a  one  I  would  advise  after  this  manner :  Suppose 
we  call  your  Italian  colony  A,  the  strongest  of  the  other  col¬ 
onies  B,  the  next  strongest  C,  the  next  D,  and  so  on.  When  A 
swarms,  hive  the  swarm  and  set  it  on  the  old  stand,  put  A  in 
place  of  B,  and  put  B  on  a  new  stand.  All  the  field-bees  of  B 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


245 


will  return  to  A,  making  A  quite  strong  again.  In  8  or  10  days 
a  young  queen  will  be  ready  in  A  to  go  out  with  a  swarm.  Hive 
the  swarm,  put  it  in  place  of  A,  put  A  in  place  of  C,  and  put  C 
in  a  new  place.  The  field-bees  of  C  will  again  strengthen  A,  and 
in  a  day  or  two  another  swarm  will  issue.  Put  the  swarm  in 
place  of  A,  put  A  in  place  of  D,  and  put  D  in  a  new  place. 
Continue  this  as  long  as  A  continues  to  swarm,  and  each  one  of 
your  swarms  will  have  for  its  queen  a  daughter  of  your  Italian 
queen.  If  you  have  only  five  or  six  colonies,  the  whole  lot  may 
be  thus  Italianized. 

QUEENS  FOR  OUT-APIARIES. 

On  any  day  when  we  are  going  to  an  out-apiary  and  expect 
to  use  young  queens,  we  take  them  from  any  nucleus  that  will 
furnish  them,  never  putting  any  escort  bees  in  the  cage  with  the 
queen,  and  generally  one  or  more  extra  queens  are  taken  along, 
for  we  are  never  sure  they  may  not  be  needed. 

Care  is  taken  that  the  record-book  shall  always  show  the 
condition  of  each  nucleus;  so  we  always  have  some  idea  as  to 
which  nucleus  will  furnish  a  laying  queen,  which  one  needs  a 
cell,  and  so  on. 


INTRODUCING  QUEENS. 

A  queen  may  be  introduced  in  a  No.  2  provisioned  cage, 
the  cage  being  nailed  directly  over  the  brood,  as  in  Fig.  93,  or 
she  may  be  introduced  in  a  No.  3  cage  let  down  between  the 
combs  or  thrust  into  the  entrance  as  already  described.  Often, 
however,  when  it  is  convenient,  I  take  from  a  nucleus  the  frame 
on  which  the  queen  is  found,  and  put  frame  and  all  in  the 
queenless  hive.  If  this  is  done  at  a  time  when  honey  is  yielding, 
there  is  little  or  no  danger,  provided  the  colony  has  been  queen¬ 
less  long  enough  to  be  fully  conscious  of  its  queenlessness.  In¬ 
deed,  I  have  introduced  many  queens  during  the  harvest  into  a 
colony  conscious  of  its  queenlessness,  by  merely  taking  out  a 
frame  of  brood  and  dropping  the  queen  among  the  bees  on  the 
middle  of  the  comb.  If  I  wish  to  run  no  risk  whatever,  as  in 
the  case  of  a  valuable  imported  queen,  I  put  in  a  hive  without 
any  bees  several  frames  with  no  unsealed  brood,  but  with  plenty 


246 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


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Fig.  89. — Comb  for  Queen  Cells,  Trimmed. 


of  sealed  brood,  some  of  it  just  emerging,  and  then  closing  the 
hive  bee-tight  put  it  where  there  is  no  danger  of  the  brood  being 
chilled.  One  way  to  do  this  is  to  put  it  over  a  strong  colony, 
wire  cloth  preventing  the  passage  of  the  bees  from  one  hive  io 
the  other.  At  the  end  of  five  days  the  hive  can  be  set  on  its 
own  stand,  and  these  five-day-old  bees,  under  the  stress  of  ne¬ 
cessity,  will  soon  be  seen  carrying  in  pollen. 


ARTIFICIAL  INCREASE. 


Fighting  so  bitterly  against  all  increase  by  swarming,  I 
would  run  out  of  bees  entirely  if  I  did  not  resort  to  artificial 
increase.  Without  pretending  to  give  all  the  ways  by  which  in¬ 
crease  has  been  made,  I  may  tell  just  a  little  about  it. 

One  can  make  increase  by  drawing  brood  or  bees,  or  both, 
from  colonies  that  are  working  for  honey,  and  thus  keep  all  the 
old  colonies  storing,  and  at  the  same  time  make  the  desired  in¬ 
crease.  In  that  way  the  largest  number  of  colonies  possible  are 
kept  at  work  on  the  harvest,  and  one  might  have  a  feeling  that 
all  the  increase  was  clear  gain.  But  the  feeling  is  a  delusive 
one.  It  is  not  the  number  of  colonies  at  work  storing,  but  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES  24'/ 

number  of  bees,  that  counts.  And  69,000  bees  in  one  hive  will 
store  more  honey  than  will  the  same  number  of  bees  equally  di¬ 
vided  in  two  hives.  So  iu  planning  for  increase  I  generally 
count  that  the  colonies  that  are  drawn  upon  for  increase  shall 
make  that  their  business  without  being  expected  to  be  called 
upon  to  store  surplus,  while  those  at  work  for  surplus  are  to  be 
left  in  the  fullest  strength  possible  throughout  the  season.  You 
cannot  make  something  out  of  nothing,  and  if  increase  is  to  be 
made  you  may  as  well  devote  a  certain  number  of  colonies  to 
that  business. 

INCREASING  BY  TAKING  TO  OUT-APIARY. 

The  case  may  be  different  in  a  locality  where  there  is  a 
long  and  late  flow,  but  I  am  talking  about  this  locality  with 
white  clover  as  the  dependence  for  a  harvest.  In  the  year  1880 
I  took  1200  pounds  of  honey  from  twelve  colonies  and  increased 
them  to  eighty-one;  but  the  honey  taken  was  extracted  buck¬ 
wheat,  and  I  never  knew  such  a  buckwheat  harvest  before  or 
since.  Perhaps  it  will  be  well  to  tell  more  explicitly  how  that 
increase  was  made.  The  success  achieved  will  be  somewhat  di¬ 
minished  when  I  say  that  the  bees  were  supplied  with  ready- 
built  combs,  so  they  had  no  combs  to  build.  But  they  had  no 
help  from  other  colonies  in  the  way  of  bees  or  brood  except  a 
few  eggs  from  which  to  rear  queens. 

The  twelve  colonies  were  taken  from  the  home  apiary  to 
the  Wilson  apiary,  and  were  prepared  in  advance  for  dividing. 
From  part  of  them  the  queens  were  taken  and  queen-cells  thus 
secured.  Ten-frame  hives  were  used  at  that  time,  and  by  some 
help  from  others  of  the  twelve  a  hive  would  contain  ten  frames 
of  brood  and  bees  without  any  queen,  a  sealed  queen-cell  on 
each  frame  of  brood.  After  standing  a  day  or  so  this  hive 
would  be  taken  to  the  out-apiary,  and  the  ten  frames  put  in  ten 
different  hives.  Of  course  every  bee  stayed  just  where  it  was 
put.  To  each  of  these  was  added  another  frame  of  brood  and 
adhering  bees  that  had  been  brought  along,  and  whether  these 
bees  were  queenless  or  not  there  was  nothing  for  them  but  to 
stay  where  they  were  put.  In  the  course  of  time  these  first- 
formed  nuclei  were  strong  enough  to  help  others,  and  the  latest 
nuclei  were  built  up  at  once  into  fair  colonies. 


248 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


INCREASING  9  WEAK  COLONIES  TO  56. 

In  the  year  1899,  at  the  Hastings  apiary,  I  increased  nine 
colonies  to  fifty-six,'  making  them  rear  their  own  queens,  and 
building  up  mostly  on  foundation.  No  advantage  was  taken  in 
the  waj^  of  hauling  colonies  from  home  to  divide,  and  the  same 
plan  would  work  just  as  well  if  I  had  had  only  one  apiary.  The 
increase  was  very  satisfactory,  considering  how  weak  the  col¬ 
onies  were  at  the  start.  May  29  there  were  only  forty-one 


Fig.  90. — Nucleus  Bottom-Board. 

combs  containing  any  brood  in  the  nine  colonies,  counting  each 
comb  with  brood,  even  if  the  patch  of  brood  were  no  larger  than 
a  silver  dollar.  I  doubt  if  the  nine  averaged  any  more  than 
three  and  a  half  good  frames  of  brood  each.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  year  was  unusually  favorable  for  increase,  for  there  was  a 
continuous  though  not  strong  flow  right  through  until,  I  think, 
in  September. 

No  attempt  could  be  made  at  increase  until  the  colonies 
were  stronger,  and  the  first  step  looking  in  that  direction  was 
not  made  until  June  12.  On  that  date  No.  237  with  its  seven 
frames  of  brood  and  bees  was  taken  from  its  stand,  and  a  hive 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


249 


of  empty  combs  set  on  the  stanch  The  queen  was  found  and 
put  in  the  hive  of  empty  combs,  which  by  this  time  had  a  good 
many  bees  returning  from  the  field.  The  queen  of  No.  237  was 
considered  the  best  in  the  apiary.  No.  237  was  now  set  on  the 
stand  of  No.  235,  and  No.  235  was  set  in  a  new  place.  Please 
understand  that  the  stand  holds  its  number,  and  that  when  the 
hive  that  was  on  stand  237  is  moved  as  stated  it  is  now  No.  235. 
We  now  have  on  235  a  hive  full  of  brood  and  bees  without  any 
queen;  and  while  it  will  lose  the  old  flying  force  it  had,  it  will 
get  the  flying  force  that  belongs  to  its  present  siand.  The 
colony  that  was  moved  from  235  will,  of  course,  lose  its  flying 
force,  and  will  take  its  time  to  recuperate. 

The  bees  on  these  two  stands — 235  and  237 — were  the 
principal  actors  throughout  the  season,  the  other  colonies  in 
the  apiary  merely  serving  as  feeders  from  which  to  draw  brood 
from  time  to  time.  On  237  was  left  the  hive  of  empty  combs, 
the  queen,  and  the  constantly  increasing  flying  force.  We  now 
go  to  the  other  colonies  and  draw  from  them  what  brood  they 
can  spare  without  depleting  them  unwisely,  leaving  foundation 
in  place  of  the  brood.  Looking  at  the  record  I  find  this  was  only 
four  frames  of  brood.  No  bees  were  taken  with  this  brood.  An 
upper  story  was  put  on  237  and  these  four  frames  of  brood  put 
in  it  with  four  empty  combs.  Of  course  the  queen  and  bees 
would  soon  be  up  in  this  upper  story. 

Matters  were  left  in  this  shape  for  nine  days,  the  plan  be¬ 
ing  to  visit  the  apiary  every  nine  days  throughout  the  summer. 
A  stormy  day,  however,  might  extend  the  time  to  ten  days,  or 
Sunday  coming  on  the  ninth  day  might  shorten  the  time  to  eight 
days. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  nine  clays,  June  21,  we  returned. 
We  took  the  brood  with  queen-cells  and  all  bees  from  235,  and 
formed  two  nuclei.  Just  why  we  did  not  start  three  I  don’t 
know,  for  usually  we  started  a  nucleus  with  two  frames  of 
brood,  and  we  must  have  had  more  than  four  frames  of  brood. 
No  measures  were  taken  to  make  these  bees  stay  where  they 
were  put;  it  was  not  necessary  with  such  queenless  bees. 

Then  we  took  the  upper  story  of  237,  with  all  its  brood 
and  bees,  and  put  it  on  235,  taking  out  the  queen  and  putting 
her  back  in  the  lower  story  on  237.  Then  we  looked  to  see 


■  250 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


what  brood  we  could  get  in  the  seven  colonies  that  acted  as  feed¬ 
ers,  without  reducing  any  of  them  to  less  than  four  or  five 
brood.  This  time  we  found  six  brood,  which  we  took  without 
any  bees,  and  put  on  237. 

This  was  the  regular  program  each  time:  forming  nuclei 
with  the  brood,  bees,  and  cells  on  235;  putting  all  brood  and 


Fig.  91. — Nucleus  Hives. 

bees  from  237  on  235,  always  leaving  the  queen  at  237;  and 
then  getting  for  237  a  fresh  stock  of  brood  wherever  it  could 
be  spared. 

As  none  of  the  assisting  colonies  were  overdrawn,  ■  they 
would  be  getting  stronger,  so  that  up  to  a  certain  point  more 
brood  Could  be  drawn  each  time.  July  18,  for  the  first  time, 
more  brood  was  drawn  than  it  was  thought  wise  to  give  to  237, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


251 


there  being  twenty  frames  in  all.  Sixteen  of  these,  or  two  ‘hives 
full,  were  taken  for  237,  the  other  four  were  used  to  strengthen 
some  of  the  nuclei.  Not  the  weakest  nuclei  were  strengthened, 
but  the  earliest  and  strongest,  for  by  being  helped  these  would 
become  strong  enough  to  be  helpers  in  turn.  In  fact,  toward 
the  last  of  the  season,  when  there  was  little  time  for  nuclei  to 
grow  up,  the  earlier  nuclei  rendered  substantial  aid  to  the  later 
ones,  at  least  one  of  them  yielding  as  many  as  nine  frames  of 
brood.  The  first  nuclei  were  formed  June  21,  as  already  men¬ 
tioned  ;  the  last  were  formed  August  23. 

I  have  gone  thus  fully  into  details  because  I  believe  this 
plan  can  be  used  successfully  by  any  one  who  has  only  a  small 
number  of  colonies  and  is  desirous  of  increase.  The  first  nuclei 
are  formed  early  enough  in  the  season  so  that  they  have  more 
than  time  enough  to  become  strong  colonies,  and  the  latest  must 
be  formed  only  in  sufficient  numbers  so  that  they  can  be 
Strengthened  up  as  soon  as  the  queen  gets  to  laying. 

NUCLEUS  PLAN  OF  INCREASE. 

With  nucleus  hives  for  queen-rearing,  as  already  described, 
it  is  easy  to  carry  out  the  nucleus  system  in  the  strictest  sense. 
I  go  to  a  nucleus  with  a  laying  queen,  preferring  a  nucleus  with 
two  or  three  frames,  take  all  the  frames  with  queen  and  adher¬ 
ing  bees,  put  them  in  an  empty  hive,  and  set  the  hive  on  an 
empty  stand.  A  week  later  a  frame  of  brood  may  be  added.  It 
will  be  better  if  it  can  be  given  with  adhering  bees,  and  still  bet¬ 
ter  if  the  bees  can  be  queenless.  Still,  there  is  no  great  danger 
to  the  queen  in  any  case,  although  the  weaker  the  nucleus  when 
strange  bees  are  given,  the  greater  the  danger  to  the  queen.  A 
week  later  on,  two  frames  of  brood  and  bees  may  be  added,  and 
the  queen  will  be  safer  if  these  two  frames  are  taken  from  two 
different  colonies.  The  colony  will  then  be  strong  enough  to  be 
left  to  its  own  devices. 

NUCLEUS  BUILDING  UP  WITHOUT  HELP. 

Indeed,  it  is  not  necessary  to  do  anything  more  than  to  let 
a  nucleus  stand  without  any  help  in  a  fair  season,  if  it  can 
stand  long  enough.  My  assistant  is  inclined  to  be  quite  opti- 


252 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


mistie  in  some  things,  and  one  August  she  expressed  her  belief 
that  a  nucleus  of  two  frames  with  a  laying  queen  would  be  able 
without  any  assistance,  if  started  on  that  date,  Aug.  6,  to  build 
up  into  a  colony  strong  enough  to  winter.  I  said  that  would  be 
asking  too  much,  and  we  would  put  the  matter  to  the  test.  So 
two  frames  of  brood  with  adhering  bees  were  put  in  a  hive  on 
a  new  stand,  and  two  days  later  a  laying  queen  was  given.  The 
two  frames  of  brood  were  rather  better  than  the  average,  for  I 
wanted  her  to  see  that  even  with  an  extra  chance  it  was  too  late 
in  the  season  for  any  such  growth.  1  don’t  know  whether  she 
watched  that  colony  on  the  sly  or  not,  but  I  did.  Looking  at  it 
every  few  days,  I  could  see  no  gain — if  anything  it  grew  weak¬ 
er.  Then  I  thought  I  could  see  a  little  gain,  and  in  twelve  days 
from  the  time  it  was  started  the  two  frames  of  brood  had  in¬ 
creased  to  two  and  a  half.  Five  days  later  there  were  three 
brood,  and  from  that  on  it  walked  right  along  to  a  fair  colony, 
although  it  had  to  be  fed  up  for  winter.  But  I  would  not  want  * 
to  count  on  starting  for  a  full  colony  so  late  as  that  in  all  sea¬ 
sons,  especially  if  the  frames  of  brood  were  not  the  very  best. 

INCREASE  WITHOUT  NUCLEI. 

These  different  ways  are  all  on  the  nucleus  plan.  Just  one 
more  way  I  want  to  mention,  and  it  is  not  on  the  nucleus  plan, 
but  if  queens  are  on  hand  I  think  I  like  it  as  well  as  any.  We 
take  four  colonies,  and  the  first  thing  is  to  have  all  four  strong 
before  anything  is  done.  Then  we  take  an  empty  hive-body 
without  any  bottom-board,  and  into  it  we  put  two  frames  of 
brood  without  anv  bees  from  the  first  hive  (a  few  bees  will  do  no 
harm),  the  same  from  the  second,  and  the  same  from  the  third, 
filling  out  the  hive  with  two  empty  combs  or  combs  with  some 
honey.  In  the  middle  of  the  hive  is  a  provisioned  introducing- 
cage  containing  a  laying  queen.  Upon  the  fourth  hive  we  put 
a  queen-excluder,  and  on  this  we  set  our  hive  full  of  brood,  and 
cover  it  up.  Very  soon  bees  enough  will  go  up  through  the  ex¬ 
cluder  to  take  care  of  the  brood.  Three  or  four  hours  later,  or 
twenty-four  hours  later  if  more  convenient,  this  hive  is  set 
upon  a  bottom-board  on  a  new  stand,  and  the  work  is  all  done. 
A  way  that  is  easier,  and  nearly  as  good,  is  to  set  the  hive  with 
the  six  brood  immediately  in  place  of  the  fourth  hive,  setting 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


253 


the  fourth  hive  in  a  new  place.  The  returning  field-bees  will 
populate  the  new  hive.  Ten  days  or  two  weeks  later  the  per¬ 
formance  may  be  repeated  if  the  season  is  prosperous,  and  this 
may  be  repeated  a  number  of  times.  Of  course  empty  combs  or 
foundation  will  take  the  place  of  the  two  frames  of  brood  drawn 
from  each  hive.  An  advantage  of  this  plan  is  that  it  makes  a 
strong  colony  at  once,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  being  caught 


Fig.  92— Miller  Cage  No.  2. 

with  a  number  of  weaklings  on  a  sudden  cessation  of  the  har¬ 
vest.  Each  new  colony  formed  will  in  its  turn  soon  be  able  to 
take  its  part  in  the  game  to  start  still  others. 

SHAKING  BEES  OFF  COMBS. 

In  this  last  plan,  since  the  frames  of  brood  are  taken  with¬ 
out  bees,  there  is  a  good  deal  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  cleaning 
bees  oft  the  combs.  While  it  does  not  matter  if  a  few  bees 
should  be  left  on  the  combs,  it  does  matter  greatly  that  care  be 
taken  to  make  sure  that  the  queen  is  not  among  the  bees  taken. 
So  it  is  well  to  brush  the  combs  tolerably  clean,  and  then  one 
can  easily  see  whether  the  queen  is  present.  Before  brushing, 


254 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


however,  most  of  the  bees  should  be  shaken  off,  for  if  this  is 
rightly  done  it  will  be  a  saving  of  time. 

FINAL  TAKING-OFF  OF  SECTIONS. 

When  the  time  comes  that  the  bees  are  expected  to  do  no 
more  work  in  the  sections,  whether  that  be  immediately  at  the 
close  of  the  clover  harvest  or  later,  t lie  supers  with  their  sec¬ 
tions  are  all  brought  home  and  piled  up  in  the  honey -room.  On 
some  accounts  it  is  better  if  the  sections  can  be  taken  out  of 
the  supers  at  once  and  taken  care  of,  and  on  other  accounts  it 


Fig.  93. — Caged  Queen-Cell. 


is  better  they  should  stand  for  some  time.  It  is  a  very  difficult 
thing  to  scrape  the  bee-glue  from  sections  while  the  weather  is 
still  hot,  and  as  disagreeable  as  it  is  difficult.  There  may  be 
some  unsealed  cells  of  honey  in  the  outer  cells  of  some  sections, 
and  this  will  have  little  chance  to  evaporate  if  it  is  thin,  after 
the  sections  are  in  the  shipping-cases.  So  the  sections  are  likely 
to  stand  for  some  time  in  the  supers  after  all  are  taken  off,  be¬ 
ing  blocked  up  as  in  Fig.  79. 

FUMIGATING  SECTIONS. 

Formerly  it  was  necessary  to  fumigate  the  sections  with 
sulphur  after  they  were  brought  into  the  house,  the  fumigation 


i<  IFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


255 


being  repeated  two  or  three  weeks  later.  I  suppose  I  should 
now  prefer  bisulphide  of  carbon  to  sulphur  for  fumigation,  but 
for  several  years  I  have  not  found  it  necessary  to  fumigate. 
Formerly  the  larvae  of  the  bee-moth  would  make  bad  work  if 
fumigation  were  omitted,  and  sometimes  in  spite  of  it,  but  now 
there  is  no  trouble.  I  don’t  know  what  makes  the  difference, 
unless  it  be  that  formerly  there  was  so  large  a  per  cent  of  black 
blood  in  my  bees. 

When  the  time  does  come  for  taking  the  sections  all  out  of 
the  supers,  the  work  is  gone  at  in  earnest  and  continued  until 
all  the  marketable  sections  are  in  their  shipping-cases  ready 
for  market.  It  will  be  understood  tkaf  all  supers  taken  off  be¬ 
fore  the  last  have  been  handled  as  heretofore  mentioned,  the 
marketable  sections  having  all  been  piled  up  in  the  honey-room 
and  the  others  returned  as  u  go-backs,'’  and  the  last  lot  taken  off 
will  consist  of  every  sort,  from  foundation  untouched  by  the 
bees  up  to  sections  entirely  tilled  and  sealed. 

SORTING  THE  SECTIONS. 

Philo  sorts  the  sections  into  four  classes  as  he  takes  them 
out,  although  some  supers  are  assigned  to  one  class  or  another 
without  being  taken  out,  because  all  in  the  super  are  of  one 
kind.  One  lot  consists  of  dry  sections,  or  those  in  which  the 
foundation  either  has  not  been  touched  by  the  bees,  or  else  has 
been  drawn  out  so  little  that  no  drop  of  honey  has  been  put  in 
it.  These  are  put  in  a  pile  by  themselves. 

FEEDER  SECTIONS. 

The  second  lot  consists  of  those  which  have  just  a  few 

drops  of  honey  in  them,  up  to  those  which  are  not  more  than 
half  filled.  Some  entire  supers  will  be  assigned  to  the  first  or 
second  lot  without  being  taken  out  of  the  super  at  all.  When  a 
super  feels  pretty  light,  it  is  inspected  with  some  care  by  look¬ 
ing  through  it  from  the  under  side.  If  it  is  found  that  there 
is  no  honey  in  any  section  in  the  super,  it  goes  to  the  dry  pile 
without  any  taking  out.  If  there  is  honey  in  the  super,  but 
no  section  in  it  more  than  half  filled,  it  goes  to  the  second  pile 
without  being  emptied,  even  if  there  is  only  one  section  in  the 


256 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


super  containing  any  honey,  and  that  section  having  only  a  few 
drops. 


BEES  EMPTYING  SECTIONS. 

The  supers  of  sections  in  this  second  pile  are  called  “  feed¬ 
ers,”  because  the  honey  in  them  is  to  be  fed  back  to  the  bees 
(Fig.  96).  Usually  this  feeding  is  not  done  until  all  the 
“  feeders”  are  ready  for  the  bees.  They  are  taken  into  the  shop 


Fig.  94.— Vacated  Qucen-C ells. 

cellar,  and  if  there  are  only  a  few  of  them  they  are  put  in 
piles  bee-tight  with  an  opening  at  the  top  and  another  at  the 
bottom  only  large  enough  for  one  or  two  bees  to  pass  at  a  time. 
If  the  number  of  supers  is  sufficiently  large,  say  half  as  large 
as  the  number  of  colonies  in  the  home  apiary,  then  the  supers 
are  set  singly  all  around  against  the  wall  of  the  cellar  so  as  to 
make  them  as  easily  accessible  to  the  bees  as  possible.  When 
there  are  only  a  few  sections,  if  the  bees  have  free  access  to 
them  they  will  tear  the  comb  to  pieces. 

When  all  the  “  feeders”  are  in  the  cellar,  then  the  door  is 
opened  wide,  and  the  bees  help  themselves.  The  reasons  for 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


257 


having  these  “feeders”  in  the  cellar  rather  than  outdoors  are, 
first,  that  I  want  to  keep  the  bees  away  from  them  until  the 
whole  of  them  are  ready  for  the  attack;  second,  that  in  the  cel¬ 
lar  they  are  safe  from  the  rain.  The  best  of  these  emptied 
“  feeders  ”  furnish  “  baits  ”  for  the  following  season. 

•  UNMARKETABLE  SECTIONS. 

The  third  pile  Philo  makes  consists  of  those  which  are  more 
than  half  filled  with  honey,  but  not  good  enough  to  be  market¬ 
able  (Fig.  97).  This  pile  is  never  very  large,  and  is  easily 
gotten  rid  of  at  home,  together  with  some  help  from  relatives. 
Some  of  it  will  make  as  fine  appearance  as  any  honey  when 
placed  on  the  table,  although  the  under  side  on  the  plate  may 
have  too  many  unsealed  and  unfilled  cells  to  admit  it  into  the 
marketable  class.  There  may  also  be  some  broken  sections,  for 
sections  have  a  fashion  of  falling  with  half  a  chance. 

BEES  CLEANING  DAUBY  SECTIONS. 

Sometimes  it  happens  that  a  section  otherwise  good  is 
spoiled,  and  badly  spoiled,  in  appearance,  by  having  honey 
from  some  section  above  leak  all  over  one  or  both  of  its  faces. 
Miss  Wilson  hit  upon  a  plan  for  having  such  sections  cleaned 
up  in  short  order,  and  with  very  little  trouble.  She  puts  them 
in  a  super,  puts  the  super  over  a  colony  of  bees,  and  an  hour 
later,  if  the  bees  are  active,  they  are  taken  from  the  hive  as 
good  as  new. 

The  rest  of  the  sections  that  do  not  go  into  one  of  these 
three  piles  are  merchantable  sections.  That  makes  four  kinds 
into  which  Philo  sorts  them,  and  you  will  see  that  it  is  possible 
out  of  one  super  to  take  sections  that  will  go  into  all  four  of 
the  piles.  Of  course  there  is  always  standing  a  super  ready  for 
any  odd  sections  of  each  kind,  that  is,  a  super  for  dry  sections, 
another  for  “  feeders,”  etc. 

FIRST  PART  OF  CLEANING  SECTIONS. 

Having  now  told  how  Philo  sorts  the  sections,  let  me 
further  tell  what  he  does  with  them.  When  he  comes  to  a  super 


258 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


that  does  not  go  entire  to  the  first  or  the  second  pile,  the  sections 
are  taken  out  in  the  manner  described  on  previous  pages,  leav¬ 
ing  the  contents  of  the  super  upside  down  on  a  board.  The  T 
tins  are  lifted  off,  and  any  sections  that  are  not  marketable  are 
picked  off  and  their  places  supplied  with  those  that  are  market¬ 
able.  Then  the  super  that  was  taken  from  them  is  replaced  by 
a  box  without  top  or  bottom,  that  is,  it  is  much  like  the  super, 


Fig.  95. — Miller  Frame. 


only  it  is  perhaps  an  inch  longer,  an  inch  wider,  and  an  inch 
shallower  than  a  T  super,  the  exact  size  not  being  important. 
A  piece  of  board  is  wedged  into  one  side,  and  another  into  one 
end,  so  as  to  hold  the  sections  firmly  in  place  (Fig.  98).  A 
case-knife  with  the  whole  length  of  its  edge  held  at  right  angles 
to  the  sections  sweeps  back  and  forth,  and  when  this  has  made 
the  surface  fairly  clean,  No.  2  sandpaper  is  used.  A  cabinet¬ 
maker’s  scraper  is  better  than  a  case-knife  while  it  is  sharp,  but 
is  harder  to  keep  sharp.  Then  a  board  similar  to  the  one  under 
the  sections  is  laid  on  top,  and  with  one  hand  under  the  under 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


259 


board  and  the  other  over  the  upper  board  he  turns  the  whole 
upside  down,  the  super  resting  on  one  end  on  the  table  as  he 
turns  it  over.  The  knife  and  sandpaper  now  do  their  work  on 
the  tops  of  the  sections.  Then  the  wedges  are  taken  out,  the 
box  removed,  and  the  boardful  of  sections  is  slid  along  the 
table  to  the  one  who  is  scraping.  This  table,  which  is -very  con¬ 
venient,  is  8  ft.  long  and  3  ft.  9  in.  wide. 

FINAL  SCRAPING  OF  SECTIONS. 

Miss  Wilson  generally  does  all  the  scraping;  that  is,  all  the 
scraping  besides  what  Philo  has  done,  and  sometimes  his  part, 
as  in  Fig.  98.  She  sometimes  scrapes  on  a  board  on  her  lap, 
but  usually  on  one  of  the  small  tables  heretofore  mentioned 
(Fig.  99).  If  the  section  should  rest  upon  the  table,  the  knife 
used  in  scraping  could  not  freely  reach  the  lowest  parts,  so  a 
loose  block  lies  on  the  board,  on  which  the  sections  rest.  An¬ 
other  advantage  of  the  block  is  that  the  accumulation  of  propo¬ 
lis  is  not  so  much  in  the  way.  The  size  of  this  block  is  not  ma¬ 
terial;  it  may  be  an  inch  thick,  four  inches  long  or  longer,  and 
two  inches  wide  or  wider.  The  block  could  be  nailed  down,  but 
it  is  more  convenient  to  have  it  loose,  so  as  to  scrape  the  propo¬ 
lis  off  the  table  from  time  to  time.  The  scrapings  have  gen¬ 
erally  been  thrown  away,  but  with  a  steam  wax-press  it  may 
pay  well  to  get  the  wax  out  of  it.  Possibly  propolis  may  yet  be 
a  marketable  commodity. 

The  knife  used  is  a  steel  case-knife  kept  very  sharp.  The 
sides  and  edges  of  the  sections  are  to  be  scraped,  and,  if  neces¬ 
sary,  sandpaper  follows  the  knife.  The  finishing  touches  are 
put  on  Philo’s  work,  knife-marks,  pencil-marks,  and  any  dis¬ 
colored  spots  being  carefully  removed. 

If  it  is  cool  enough,  so  that  the  bee-glue  is  brittle  instead 
of  being  sticky,  then  sandpaper  replaces  the  knife.  The  sand¬ 
paper  is  not  rubbed  upon  the  section,  but  the  section  is  rubbed 
upon  a  sheet  of  sandpaper  lying  flat.  This  makes  more  rapid 
work  than  the  knife,  especially  in  scraping  the  edges,  for  four 
edges  are  sandpapered  at  one  operation. 

A  scraper  should  be  a  careful  person,  or  in  ten  minutes’ 
time  he  will  do  more  damage  than  his  day’s  work  is  worth. 
Even  a  careful  person  seems  to  need  to  spoil  at  least  one  sec- 


260 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


tion  before  taking  the  care  necessary  to  avoid  injuring  others. 
But  when  the  knife  makes  an  ugly  gash  in  the  face  of  a  beau¬ 
tiful  white  section  of  honey,  that  settles  it  that  care  will  be 
taken  afterward. 

PACKING  SECTIONS  IN  SHIPPING-CASES. 

The  scraper  has  in  easy  reach  two  shipping-cases.  In  one, 
as  fast  as  they  are  scraped,  are  put  all  sections  that  are  not  in 
any  way  faulty,  such  as  appear  in  Fig.  100.  In  the  other  are 
put  any  which  are  a  little  off  color,  either  as  to  comb  or  honey, 
or  which  have  some  cells  unsealed.  These  must  be  sold  as 
second-class  at  a  reduction  of  about  2  cents  a  pound.  In  Fig. 
101  are  shown  six  such  sections,  the  upper  three  having  the  best 
side  out  and  the  lower  three  having  the  poorest  side  out. 

KIND  OF  SHIPPING-CASES. 

For  some  years  I  used  double-tier  shipping-cases  holding 
twenty-four  sections  each,  the  upper  tier  resting  on  a  little 
board  supported  by  two  other  little  boards,  so  that  no  weight 
came  upon  the  lower  tier.  A  pile  of  such  cases  showed  a  great¬ 
er  proportion  of  honey  in  its  surface  than  a  pile  of  single-tier 
cases,  and  for  this  reason  I  liked  it,  but  it  was  odd  goods,  and 
so  I  changed  to  single-tier  cases.  I  have  used  mostly  the  twelve- 
section  case,  as  shown  in  Fig.  102.  But  please  do  not  think  that 
all  my  honey  looks  as  well  as  that  in  Fig.  102.  The  specimens 
in  Fig.  100  are  fair  samples,  although  they  are  possibly  a  little 
below  the  mark. 

I  have  used  some  single-tier  cases  holding  twenty-four  sec¬ 
tions  (Fig.  103).  These  are  not  so  nice  and  firm  to  handle  as 
the  smaller  cases,  but  it  costs  less  to  pack  a  ton  of  honey  in  the 
larger  than  in  the  smaller  cases.  Grocers  who  sell  by  the  case 
are  inclined  to  prefer  the  larger  case,  for  they  say  a  customer 
who  buys  a  case  at  a  time  will  as  readily  buy  a  twenty-four-sec¬ 
tion  ease  as  a  twelve-section  case. 

I  have  used  several  hundred  safety  shipping-cases,  but  am 
none  too  sure  they  are  worth  the  extra  cost. 

The  most  difficult  thing  about  the  packing  is  to  prevent  ve¬ 
neering.  It  seems  to  come  so  natural,  when  a  particularly 


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FI#.  96. — Feeder-Sections. 

the  pleasure  it  gives  the  family  to  see  it  for  a  few  days,  perhaps 
only  for  a  day.  But  the  sight  is  a  beautiful  one  so  long  as  it 
lasts,  as  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  if  you  look  at  Fig.  104. 

PLACE  TO  KEEP  HONEY. 

I  have  sold  a  crop  of  honey  before  it  was  off  the  hives  and 
sometimes  I  have  kept  part  of  a  crop  over  till  spring. 

In  any  case  the  honey  for  home  use  in  spring  must  be  kept 
over.  It  is  not  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  keep  it  through 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES  2fil 


white  and  straight  section  goes  into  the  case,  to  put  it  next  the 
glass,  best  side  out  at  that.  But  it  is  especially  desirable  that 
the  outside  shall  be  a  fair  index  of  the  entire  contents  of  the 
case.  In  the  long  run  there  is  money  to  be  made  by  it,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  feeling  of  satisfaction. 


HONEY-SHOW. 


When  the  cases  are  filled  they  are  stacked  up  in  piles,  and 
these  piles  are  mostly — perhaps  always — so  arranged  as  to 
make  the  best  show  possible.  There  is  no  object  in  this  beyond 


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262 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


the  winter  in  good  shape.  If  kept  cold  it  is  apt  to  granulate, 
or  candy,  as  it  is  usually  called.  If  allowed  to  freeze,  the  combs 
crack  and  look  bad,  and  in  time  the  honey  oozes  out  of  the 
cracks.  Honey  is  deliquescent,  absorbing  from  the  atmosphere 
a  large  amount  of  water  if  conditions  are  favorable.  Try  put¬ 
ting  some  common  salt  in  a  place  where  you  think  of  keeping 
honey;  if  the  salt  remains  dry,  so  would  honey.  But  a  place 
that  is  suitable  at  one  time  may  not  be  at  another.  Years  ago 
I  filled  the  back  end  of  the  honey-room  with  honey.  It  was  a 
good  place  for  it;  the  outside  walls  were  thin  and  the  heat  of 
the  sun  made  it  a  hot  place.  When  cold  weather  came,  how¬ 
ever,  it  was  a  bad  place,  and  the  lower  sections  at  the  back  part 
— beautiful,  snowy-white,  when  first  put  in — became  watery  and 
dark-looking.  A  fire  for  cooking  was  kept  in  the  adjoining 
room,  and  although  there  seemed  but  very  little  steam  in  the 
air,  by  the  time  it  got  to  the  back  end  of  the  room,  and  settled  to 
the  lower  part,  there  was  enough  to  spoil  hundreds  of  sections. 
You  see,  warm  air  is  like  a  sponge  to  take  up  moisture,  and  cold 
squeezes  the  moisture  out  of  it.  The  point  to  see  to,  then,  is 
to  have  no  air  coming  from  a  warmer  place  to  the  place  where 
the  honey  is.  I  would  sooner  risk  honey  in  a  kitchen  with  a 
hot  fire  and  plenty  of  steam,  than  in  a  room  without  fire  and 
with  a  door  partly  opened  into  a  sitting-room  where  no  water 
or  steam  is  ever  kept.  Indeed,  a  kitchen  is  quite  a  good  place 
to  keep  honey,  the  higher  up  the  better. 

KEEPING  HONEY  IN  GARRET. 

It  is  well  known  that  a  cellar,  except  in  particularly  dry 
localities,  is  about  the  worst  place  in  which  to  keep  honey;  but 
it  is  not  so  well  known  that  the  place  the  furthest  removed 
from  the  cellar — the  garret — is  one  of  the  very  best  places.  My 
mother  kept  some  sections  throughout  the  latter  part  of  sum¬ 
mer  in  a  garret,  and  after  enduring  the  freezing  of  the  following 
winter  they  were  as  fine  as  when  first  put  there.  The  roasting 
heat  of  the  summer  in  that  garret  had  so  ripened  the  honey  as 
to  make  it  proof  against  injury  from  freezing. 

HONEY  IN  CELLAR  WITH  FURNACE. 

I  just  spoke  of  a  cellar  as  a  poor  place  for  honey  except  in 
very  dry  climates.  But  a  furnace  in  a  cellar  makes  a  big  differ- 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


263 


ence.  In  1902  a  furnace  was  put  in  my  cellar.  Several  winters 
since  then  I  have  piled  up  sections  beside  the  furnace,  at  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  1  to  4  feet  from  it,  and  anything  better  could  hardly 
be  desired. 


GRANULATED  HONEY. 

If  comb  honey  becomes  granulated  or  watery,  I  know  of 
no  way  to  restore  it.  If  for  home  use,  or  if  one  happens  to 
have  a  market  where  extracted  honey  sells  for  a  good  price,  the 


Imipt 


kkm 


I 


if 


m 


'*  &  '*  >  &  **' 

I  Jm.  ‘ 


■  f 


Fig.  97. — Unmarketable  Sections. 

sections  may  be  put  in  stone  crocks,  slowly  melted,  being  sure  it 
is  not  overheated ;  and  then  when  cool,  the  cake  of  wax  may  be 
lifted  off  the  honey. 

The  best  place  to  keep  comb  honey  is  also  the  best  place  to 
keep  extracted;  but  if  extracted  honey  becomes  granulated  or 
watery,  it  may  be  restored  to  its  former,  or  even  a  better  con¬ 
dition.  If  thin  and  not  granulated,  by  setting  it  on  the  reservoir 
of  a  cook-stove  and  letting  it  remain  days  enough,  it  will  be¬ 
come  thick.  I  suppose  you  may  have  known  this,  and  also  that 
extracted  honey,  when  granulated,  may  be  liquefied  by  slowly 


264 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


s' 

heating,  but  did  you  know  that  when  thin  honey  is  warmed  for 
a  long  time  the  flavor  is  improved*?  I  have  had  the  flavor  im¬ 
proved  and  could  attribute  it  to  nothing  but  remaining  a  couple 
of  weeks  on  the  reservoir.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  if  fine- 
flavored  honey  in  good  condition  is  placed  on  the  stove  reser¬ 
voir  it  will  be  improved.  Most  people,  however,  who  have  had 
much  to  do  with  honey,  must  have  noticed  that  when  extracted 
honey  becomes  thin  from  attracting  moisture  from  the  atmos¬ 
phere,  it  seems  to  acquire  a  different  flavor — perhaps  I  might 
say  it  has  a  sharp  taste — and  the  slow  heating  seems  to  restore 
it  partly  if  not  wholly  to  its  former  condition. 

RIPENING  HONEY. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  honey  which  is  taken  thin  from 
the  hive,  not  yet  having  been  brought  to  proper  density  by  the 
bees. 

There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  honey,  or 
perhaps  nectar,  evaporated  outside  of  the  hive,  is  equal  to  that 
which  remains  in  the  hive  till  thick.  Of  course,  no  large  amount 
could  be  evaporated  on  a  stove  reservoir.  Some  beekeepers 
have  large  tanks  in  which  to  evaporate  honey  by  the  sun  or 
other  heat.  The  general  opinion,  however,  is  that  the  best  place 
for  ripening  honey  is  on  the  hives. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  when  honey  has  really 
soured  it  can  be  made  good  by  the  process  mentioned.  The  only 
thing  is  to  use  it  for  vinegar ;  and  fine  vinegar  it  will  make. 

DRAINING  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 

There  is  another  plan  which  I  have  used  to  secure  some  ex¬ 
tra-fine  extracted  honey  for  our  private  use.  Whether  it  could 
be  used  profitably  on  a  large  scale,  I  cannot  say.  There  are, 
however,  always  people  who  are  ready  to  pay  a  high  price  for 
an  extra  article.  After  a  crock  of  clover  honey  has  granulated, 
I  turn  it  on  its  side  or  upside  down,  and  let  it  remain  days 
enough  to  drain  off  all  the  liquid  part.  If  drained  long  enough, 
the  residue — and  this  will  be  nearly  all  the  crockful — will  be  as 
dry  as  sugar,  and  when  this  is  liquefied  by  slow  heating  it  makes 
a  delicious  article.  It  will,  however,  granulate  very  easily  a 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


265 


second  time.  On  a  large  scale,  the  liquid  might  be  drained  off 
by  boring  a  hole  at  the  lower  part  of  a  barrel  of  granulated 
honey.  I  spoke  of  treating  clover  honey  in  this  way;  I  do  not 
know  what  other  kinds  may  be  treated  the  same  way,  but  I  have 
had  some  granulated  honey  of  smooth,  even  texture,  from  which 


Fig.  98. — Sections  Wedged  for  Scraping. 


no  liquid  part  could  be  drained.  When  set  to  drain,  the  whole 
mass  would  roll  slowly  out. 

MARKETING  HONEY. 

1  have  had  no  uniform  way  of  marketing  honey.  I  should 
prefer  in  all  cases  to  sell  the  crop  outright  for  cash,  if  I  could 
get  a  satisfactory  price;  but  some  years  I  can  do  better  to  sell 


266 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


on  commission.  Judgment  must  be  used  as  to  limiting  commis¬ 
sion  men  lo  a  certain  price.  Some  commission  men  will  sell  off 
promptly  at  any  price  offered,  and  when  sending  to  such  men  it 
is  best  to  name  a  certain  figure,  below  which  the  honey  must  not 
be  sold.  I  have  sold  in  my  home  market,  as  well  as  in  towns 
near  by,  and  have  shipped  to  nine  of  the  principal  cities,  and  it 
would  be  an  impossibility  for  me  to  say  what  would  be  my  best 
market  next  year.  Prices  vary  according  to  the  yield  in  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  country.  If  shipping  to  a  distant  point  in 
cold  weather,  I  keep  up  a  hot  fire  *fo  warm  the  honey  twenty- 
four  hours  before  shipping.  If  very  cold  I  wait  for  a  warm 
spell. 

LOADING  SECTIONS  WHEN  SHIPPING. 

On  a  wagon,  the  length  of  a  section  should  run  across  the 
wagon — on  a  car,  lengthwise  of  the  car.  Convenience  of  pack¬ 
ing  in  a  wagon,  however,  is  of  first  consideration,  for  with  care¬ 
ful  driving  it  matters  little  which  way  the  sections  are  placed. 
On  the  other  hand,  no  matter  what  the  inconvenience,  I  would 
have  the  sections  in  a  railroad  car  so  that  when  a  heavy  bump 
comes  the  sections  must  take  it  endwise.  I  always  prefer,  if 
possible,  to  load  the  honey  directly  into  the  car  myself.  Then 
I  know  that  it  will  carry  well  unless  the  engine  does  an  unrea¬ 
sonable  amount  of  bumping. 

PACKING  SECTIONS  IN  A  CAR. 

Very  likely  a  number  of  cases  of  honey  packed  in  a  crate 
do  not  need  any  special  care  in  loading;  but  if  I  can  make  sure 
that  the  honey  will  go  through  to  its  destination  without  any 
reloading,  I  prefer  to  put  the  cases  in  the  car  one  by  one.  If 
the  number  of  cases  is  so  small  that  there  is  no  need  to  pile  one 
case  on  another,  then  the  cases  are  put  in  one  end  of  the  car 
and  kept  in  place  by  a  strip  of  common  inch  lumber  nailed  on 
the  floor.  If  there  are  enough  cases  so  they  must  be  tiered 
up,  then  the  lower  tier  has  a  strip  nailed  on  the  floor  as  before, 
but  each  of  the  upper  tiers  is  fastened  differently.  On  each 
side  of  the  car  is  nailed  a  cleat  to  support  a  fence-board  which 
runs  across  the  width  of  the  car,  resting  flat  like  a  shelf  on  these 
cleats.  Another  cleat  is  nailed  on  the  side  of  the  car  over  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


2G7 


board,  so  it  can  move  neither  np  nor  down.  The  board  is  up 
tight  against  the  cases,  perhaps  a  little  above  their  middle.  Then 
a  third  cleat  is  nailed  on  each  side  of  the  car  against  the  board 
to  prevent  the  board  from  moving  in  the  least. 

If  there  is  a  space  at  the  side  of  the  car,  straw  is  packed 
hard  into  it  beside  the  cases.  If  the  space  is  very  small,  pieces 


Fig.  99. — Scraping  Sections. 

of  old  wooden  separators  may  be  wedged  in.  Newspapers  are 
laid  on  the  bottom  of  the  car  under  the  cases,  and  newspapers 
tacked  on  top  of  them. 


HOME  MARKET. 

Much  has  been  said  about  cultivating  a  home  market,  but 
there  are  two  sides  to  the  matter.  If  beekeepers  from  neighbor- 


268 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ing  towns  come  in  and  supply  my  home  market  at  2  cents  per 
pound  less  than  my  honey  nets  me  when  shipped  to  a  distant 
market,  about  all  I  can  do  is  to  leave  the  home  market  in  their 
hands.  I  suspect,  however,  that  it  would  have  been  to  my  ad¬ 
vantage  to  have  paid  more  attention  to  developing  my  home 
market  for  extracted  honey. 

HOME  VERSUS  DISTANT  MARKET. 

In  deciding  between  a  home  and  a  distant  market,  there 
are  more  things  to  be  taken  into  consideration  than  are  always 
thought  of.  There  is  breakage  in  transportation,  and  the 
greater  the  distance  the  greater  the  risk.  If  I  can  load  my 
honey  into  a  car  myself,  and  it  goes  to  its  destination  without 
change  of  cars,  I  do  not  feel  very  anxious  about  it.  On  this 
account  a  car-load  is  safer  than  a  small  quantity,  for  a  full  car¬ 
load  may  be  sent  almost  any  distance  without  re-shipping.  If 
re-shipped,  it  is  not  at  all  certain  how  it  will  be  packed  in  a 
car.  I  once  sent  a  lot  of  honey  to  Cincinnati,  and  when  it  ar¬ 
rived  at  its  destination  the  sections  were  actually  lying  on  their 
sides !  I  suppose  the  railroad  hands  who  packed  it  in  the  car 
at  the  last  change,  thought  the  glass  was  safest  from  breakage 
if  the  case  was  put  glass  side  down.  The  strangest  part  about 
it  was  that  I  lost  nothing  by  the  breakage.  The  dogged  per¬ 
sistence  of  a  German  consignee  obliged  the  railroad  company  to 
pay  all  damage !  for  the  consignee  was  that  staunch  German  and 
genial  friend  of  beekeepers — the  late  C.  F.  Muth. 

There  is  less  danger  of  breakage  by  freight  than  by  ex¬ 
press.  Besides  danger  of  breakage,  there  is  risk  of  losing  in 
various  ways.  You  may  not  be  able  to  collect  pay  for  your 
honey.  If  sent  on  commission,  the  price  obtained  may  be  less 
than  the  published  market  report.  You  have  no  means  general¬ 
ly  to  know  how  correct  the  claims  for  breakage  may  be.  In 
fact,  unless  you  know  your  consignee  to  be  a  thoroughly  honest 
man,  you  are  almost  entirely  at  his  mercy. 

PRICES  IN  HOME  AND  DISTANT  MARKET. 

Taking  all  these  things  into  consideration,  together  with 
the  cost  of  freight  and  shipping-cases,  it  must  be  a  good  price 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


269 


that  will  justify  a  man  to  ship  off  honey  to  the  neglect  of  his 
home  market.  If  shipped  to  be  sold  on  commission,  provided 
he  ships  to  a  near  market,  the  price  should  be  at  least  2Vo  cents 
per  pound  more  than  he  can  get  in  his  home  market,  to  justify 
his  shipping.  If  he  ships  to  a  distant  market  the  difference 
should  be  still  more,  as  the  additional  freight  may  make  a  dif¬ 
ference  of  1  cent  per  pound  or  more,  and  the  risk  of  breakage 
becomes  greater. 


Fig.  100. — Sections  Beady  for  Casing. 

Not  always,  however,  must  I  be  willing  to  sell  in  my  home 
market  for  less  than  I  can  get  abroad.  If  there  is  a  year  of 
dead  failure  in  my  locality,  or  so  nearly  a  failure  that  the 
home  market  must  be  at  least  partly  supplied  from  elsewhere, 
then  I  should  get  more  for  my  honey  than  the  grocers  will  have 
to  pay  in  the  large  city  markets,  for  they  must  add  freight  to 
the  price  they  pay  there. 

'FALL  FEEDING. 

Some  seasons  are  so  poor  that  the  bees  do  not  get  enough 
throughout  the  whole  season  to  carry  them  through  the  winter. 


270 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


One  j^ear  I  took  no  surplus,  and  fed  2800  pounds  of  granulated 
sugar  for  winter  stores.  Some  years  the  clover  crop  will  be  a 
failure,  but  plenty  of  stores  will  be  gathered  later  in  the  season 
to  carry  the  bees  over  winter.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  tell  in 
advance  just  what  will  be,  but  it  is  best  to  err  on  the  safe  side; 
and  it  is  no  barm  to  have  more  stores  on  band  than  are  actually 
needed.  It  is  also  better  to  have  the  feeding  done  early.  If  the 
feed  is  given  so  early  that  it  can  be  given  thin  enough,  the  bees 
make  chemical  changes  in  it  that  make  it  better  for  winter. 

FEEDING  SYRUP. 

Formerly  I  did  not  take  this  into  account,  and  syrup  was 
prepared  that  approached  the  consistency  of  honey.  Water  was 
put  in  a  vessel  on  the  stove,  and  when  at  or  near  the  boiling- 
point  granulated  sugar  was  slowly  stirred  in  at  the  rate  of  five 
pounds  of  sugar  to  a  quart  of  water.  When  the  sugar  was 
about  dissolved,  an  even  teaspoonful  of  tartaric  acid  for  every 
twenty  pounds  of  sugar,  previously  dissolved  in  water,  was  stir¬ 
red  into  the  syrup,  for  without  the  acid  the  syrup  is  likely  to 
turn  into  sugar  in  the  combs  when  fed  so  thick.  If  I  were  to 
feed  late  in  September,  or  in  October,  I  think  I  should  prefer 
the  same  syrup  now. 

FEEDING  EARLY  FOR  WINTER. 

But  by  feeding  in  August  or  early  in  September  the  work 
can  be  made  much  easier,  and  at  the  same  time  the  food  will  be 
better  for  the  bees.  For  they  will  so  manipulate  the  thin  feed 
given  them  that  no  acid  will  be  needed,  making  their  winter 
stores  much  more  like  the  stores  they  obtain  from  the  flowers. 
There  is  nothing  complicated  about  the  feeding,  and  there  is 
not  the  same  trouble  with  robbers  as  when  syrup  is  made.  First, 
the  feeders  are  all  put  on,  and  left  standing  uncovered.  Then 
the  amount  of  sugar  needed  in  each  feeder  is  put  in  dry,  wheth¬ 
er  that  be  two  pounds  or  fifteen  pounds.  Then  I  go  around  to 
each  feeder,  and,  making  a  depression  in  the  center  of  the  sugar, 
put  in  half  a  pint  or  more  of  water.  I  do  this  rather  than  to 
put  in  the  full  quota  of  water  at  first,  because  in  the  latter  case 
it  is  possible  that  the  water  would  force  its  way  into  the  reach 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


271 


of  the  bees  without  having  much  sweetness  in  it,  for  I  forgot  to 
say  that  I  use  the  Miller  feeder.  I  am  not  sure  that  this  pre¬ 
caution  is  necessary,  but  it  can  do  no  harm.  I  now  go  around 
and  put  in  each  feeder  about  as  much  water  as  will  balance  the 
sugar,  counting  either  by  pints  or  pounds.  Of  course,  if  twelve 
pounds  or  more  of  sugar  should  be  in  the  feeder,  it  will  be  im¬ 
possible  to  balance  the  sugar  with  water.  In  that  case  I  put 
in  all  the  water  I  can.  Next  day  or  so  the  liquid  will  be  used 


»g9pF ft|Pf 


‘  •  '*'1% 

■  _  •;«; 
*  *!r 


f  ~  *  mt***  m*  A* 


Ct>  •*! 


«* 


•*« 


Sfcc2Ss2*&*&ESc 


Fig.  101. — Second-Class  Sections. 

out,  and  I  can  till  up  again.  Indeed,  in  many  cases  where 
equal  parts  of  sugar  and  water  are  given,  the  water  will  be 
mostly  out  by  the  next  day,  leaving  only  damp  sugar  in  the 
feeder,  and  more  water  must  be  added.  Practically,  this  is 
giving  the  feed  very  thin,  and  I  suspect  it  is  all  the  better.  I 
have  never  had  any  trouble  from  robber  bees  while  leaving  the 
feeders  open  in  the  way  mentioned,  of  course  covering  up  as 
soon  as  water  is  all  in;  although  I  have  had  trouble  by  leaving 
a  cover  on  a  feeder  that  was  not  bee-tight,  and  with  such  a 
cover  it  is  better  first  to  put  on  a  cover  of  cotton  cloth  that 
hangs  down  all  around. 


272 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


SELECTING  COLONIES  TO  FEED. 

I  have  spoken  as  if  a  feeder  was  put  over  each  colony  lacking 
stores.  That  is  by  no  means  always  the  case — indeed,  not  often 
the  case.  There  are  reasons  why  it  is  better  to  have  a  compara¬ 
tively  small  number  of  colonies  do  the  storing,  taking  sealed 
combs  from  these  to  give  to  the  weaker  ones.  It  is  a  good  deal 
less  trouble,  when  the  feeding  is  begun  in  good  season,  to  have 
one  colony  store  enough  for  five  or  ten  others  besides  itself  than 
it  is  to  have  feeders  on  all  of  the  five  or  ten  colonies.  Some 
colonies  will  store  better  than  others,  and  the  best  can  be 
chosen. 


FEEDING  IN  FALL  FOE  SPRING. 

For  some  reason,  bees  seem  to  store  from  a  feeder  much  better 
late  in  the  season  than  they  do  before  the  harvest  time.  The 
greater  strength  of  the  colonies  and  the  warmer  weather  would 
make  one  expect  a  difference,  but  it  has  always  seemed  to  me 
that  there  was  more  difference  than  could  be  accounted  for 
without  some  other  reason.  So  it  is  desirable  at  this  time  to 
have  not  only  enough  combs  filled  to  bridge  over  the  winter, 
but  to  supply  any  possible  deficiency  up  to  the  harvest  time. 

An  upper  story  of  empty  combs  is  put  on,  possibly  two.  As 
fast  as  combs  are  completely  filled  and  sealed  they  can  be  re¬ 
moved  and  replaced  by  empty  ones.  If  it  is  desired  to  have 
combs  filled  out  upon  foundation,  beautiful  work  will  be  done 
upon  them  in  these  upper  stories.  It  will  easily  be  seen  that  it 
is  less  trouble  to  add  sugar  from  time  to  time  as  needed,  also 
to  add  water  as  needed,  than  it  is  to  apportion  the  smaller 
amounts  to  a  number  of  colonies.  No  great  matter  if  too  much 
or  too  little  of  one  or  the  other  is  present;  the  thing  will  regu¬ 
late  itself.  For  with  cold  water  there  is  no  danger  of  the  feed 
being  too  thick,  and  all  the  harm  of  too  large  a  proportion  of 
sugar  is  that  the  bees  will  have  to  wait  for  more  water  when  it 
is  too  dry  to  give  down.  On  the  other  hand,  they  will  continue 
taking  it  down  when  it  is  much  thinner  than  half-and-half,  and 
perhaps  it  is  all  the  better  manipulated  when  very  thin. 

Perhaps  it  would  do  as  well  to  feed  as  described  under  whole¬ 
sale  feeding  in  spring,  but  in  that  case  I  should  want  the  feed 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


273 


quite  thin,  and  there  would  be  more  danger  from  robbers,  and 
more  danger  of  having  thin  feed  left  in  the  feeders  to  sour. 

DIFFICULTY  IN  DECIDING  ABOUT  STORES. 

It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  determine  just  what  amount  of 
stores  is  needed  to  carry  a  colony  through  to  the  next  harvest. 
Some  colonies  use  more  than  others  under  apparently  the  same 
conditions.  Experience  will  enable  one  to  judge  fairly  well  by 
inspection  as  to  the  amount  of  stores  present,  but  one  can  be 
more  exact  about  it  by  actual  weighing.  Besides,  with  proper 
conveniences  for  it,  the  weighing  takes  less  time.  But  two 
colonies  may  weigh  exactly  the  same,  and  one  may  have  abun¬ 
dance  and  the  other  may  starve,  because,  although  weighing  the 
same,  one  had  much  more  honey  than  the  other.  One  had  much 
pollen,  the  other  little.  Or,  the  combs  of  one  were  new,  and  the 
combs  of  the  other  very  old  and  heavy.  The  only  safe  way  is 
to  have  all  so  heavy  that  under  any  and  all  circumstances  there 
will  be  no  danger.  So  we  aim  to  have  each  hive  with  its  con¬ 
tents,  its  cover,  and  its  bottom-board,  weigh  as  much  as  fifty 
pounds.  Some  will  weigh  so  much  more  than  this  that  hefting 
will  showT  that  there  is  no  need  of  weighing.  Even  a  strong 
colony  that  stored  well  throughout  the  season  in  a  prosperous 
year  may  have  had  the  brood-chamber  so  stocked  with  brood 
that  not  enough  honey  was  in  the  brood-chamber,  so  it  is  well  to 
heft  and  weigh  even  in  the  best  seasons,  and  to  do  this  late 
enough  so  that  storing  from  flowers  need  no  longer  be  taken  into 
account,  and  so  early  that  there  will  be  abundance  of  time  for 
the  bees  to  arrange  matters  to  their  liking  in  the  brood-chamber. 

WEIGHING  COLONIES. 

A  common  spring  balance  with  a  capacity  of  eighty  pounds 
is  used  for  weighing  (Fig.  105).  An  endless  rope  passes  around 
the  hive  under  the  cleat  at  each  end,  then  the  hook  of  the  spring 
balance  passes  under  the  two  parts  of  the  rope  over  the  hive, 
and  the  slack  is  taken  up  by  tying  a  string  around  the  two  parts 
under  the  hook.  A  hickory  stick  used  as  a  lever  passes  through 
the  ring  of  the  upper  part  of  the  spring  balance,  the  short  end 
of  the  lever  being  supported  by  a  light  framework  .hat  stands 


274 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


on  the  adjoining  hive.  When  all  is  properly  adjusted,  the  long 
end  of  the  lever  is  raised,  and  the  weight  is  read,  and  then  taken 
down,  so  that  a  comb  or  combs  may  be  added  to  bring  up  to  the 
desired  weight.  If  no  precaution  is  taken,  the  spring  balance, 
when  first  raised,  will  slide  on  the  lever  down  against  one’s 
hands  or  shoulders.  To  prevent  this  a  stout  string  has  one  end 
tied  to  the  short  end  of  the  lever,  and  the  other  end  tied  to  the 
ring  of  the  balance,  so  as  to  keep  it  within  bounds.  When  once 


Fig.  102. — Twelve-section  Ship  ping -case. 

adjusted,  rope,  balance,  and  lever  are  left  fastened  together,  the 
rope  being  slipped  on  each  end  of  the  hive  for  weighing,  and 
slipped  off  when  the  hive  is  weighed. 

RESERVE  COMBS  OF  HONEY. 

After  all  I  have  said  about  feeding,  I  am  happy  to  say  that 
since  about  the  time  of  the  coming  in  of  the  20th  century  very 
little  feeding  has  been  done.  Most  years  not  a  feeder  is  put  on. 
This  is  partly  due  to  the  increase  of  fall  pasturage,  and  perhaps 
in  some  degree  to  the  fact  that  the  present  stock  of  bees  are 
more  provident  than  they  were  some  years  ago. 


I 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES  ,  275 

In  spite  of  the  better  fall  feed,  some  colonies  in  eight-frame 
hives  might  be  short  of  stores  before  the  white-honey  harvest. 
To  meet  such  cases,  combs  filled  with  sealed  honey  are  kept  in 
reserve  from  the  previous  fall.  These  reserve  combs  are  valu¬ 
able  for  another  purpose.  Left  to  themselves  the  bees  would 
have  very  little  honey  in  the  hives  at  the  opening  of  the  honey- 
harvest,  and  all  vacancies  in  the  brood-chamber  must  be  filled 
before  honey  goes  into  the  supers.  Now  if  we  have  reserve 
combs  on  hand  from  the  previous  fall,  so  as  to  have  the  brood- 
chamber  entirely  filled  with  brood  and  honey  at  the  opening  of 
the  harvest,  then  there  is  nothing  left  for  the  bees  to  do  but  to 
tote  the  first  honey  up-stairs,  instead  of  waiting  for  the  brood- 
chamber  to  be  filled.  You  may  ask  what  is  gained  by  merely 
swapping  last  year’s  honey  for  honey  in  the  sections.  There 
would  be  nothing  gained  if  the  honey  in  the  reserve  combs  were 
white-clover  honey.  But  it  is  fall  honey ;  and  for  every  pound 
of  fall  honey  we  put  in  the  brood-chamber  we  get  back  a  pound 
of  white  honey  in  sections. 

So  I  like  to  have  one  or  two  reserve  combs  on  hand  for  each 
colony  in  the  spring.  These  reserve  combs  may  be  obtained  by 
taking  them  in  the  fall  from  colonies  that  are  over-heavy,  giving 
in  place  of  them  empty  combs  to  be  again  filled,  or  upper  stories 
may  be  given  filled  with  combs. 

NUCLEI  IN  FALL. 

When  the  time  for  rearing  queens  is  over,  the  nuclei  will  be 
in  various  conditions.  Some  will  be  weak,  some  strong,  some 
queenless.  Here  will  be  a  nucleus  hive  containing  three  strong 
nuclei  with  a  good  laying  queen  in  each  nucleus.  Nothing  is 
to  be  done  in  such  a  case  but  to  leave  the  three  nuclei  as  they 
are,  to  be  carried  into  the  cellar  without  any  further  prepara¬ 
tion,  unless  it  be  to  give  some  honey  if  it  be  needed.  In  the  case 
of  the  middle  nucleus,  that  will  mean  exchanging  their  comb  for 
one  as  much  as  two-thirds  or  three-quarters  full  of  honey.  In 
the  nuclei  at  the  sides  of  the  hive,  the  heaviest  frames  of  honey 
will  be  toward  the  center  of  the  hive.  This  will  encourage  the 
bees  to  cluster  in  that  direction,  thus  concentrating  the  warmth 
of  the  three  nuclei. 


276 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


UNITING  NUCLEI. 

But  the  hives  with  three  strong  nuclei  and  three  queens  will 
be  exceptional.  Some  will  have  only  two  queens,  some  one.  If 
a  nucleus  hive  has  in  it  only  one  queen,  it  may  be  that  a  full 
hive  is  set  in  place  of  the  nucleus  hive,  the  contents  of  the  three 
apartments  of  the  nucleus  hive  put  into  this  full  hive,  and,  if 
necessary,  enough  nuclei  added  from  elsewhere  to  make  a  fair 
colony.  If  none  of  the  nuclei  in  any  one  nucleus  hive  be  suf¬ 
ficiently  strong  where  there  is  only  one  queen  in  the  hive,  then 


Fig.  103. — A  24-section  Case. 

the  nucleus  with  the  queen  is  likely  to  be  put  in  some  nucleus 
hive  that  has  contained  only  two  queens.  In  some  cases  one  of 
the  division-boards  is  taken  away,  making  one  of  the  compart¬ 
ments  large  enough  to  receive  five  frames,  besides  the  other  with 
the  three  frames.  Thus  the  nucleus  in  the  larger  compartment 
may  be  built  up  to  a  tolerably  fair  colony. 

Thus  you  will  see  that  there  is  little  or  no  destroying  of 
queens,  the  effort  being  to  have  each  queen  supported  by  a  good 
force  of  bees,  considering  the  size  of  her  compartment.  No 
attention  is  paid  to  the  matter  of  trying  to  make  bees  stay  where 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


277 


they  are  put.  If  they  don’t  like  to  stay  they  don’t  need  to; 
they’ll  count  somewhere.  But  as  they  are  mostly  queenless  bees 
that  are  moved,  they  are  not  bad  about  returning. 

DOUBLE  HIVES  FOR  WINTER. 

Not  only  have  I  wintered  nuclei  two  and  three  in  a  hive,  but  a 
few  years  ago  I  had  considerable  experience  in  wintering  full 
colonies  in  double  hives.  If  I  had  not  changed  from  ten-frame 
to  eight-frame  hives  I  should  have  continued  the  practice,  but 
an  eight-frame  hive  makes  too  cramped  quarters  for  two  full 


Fig.  104. — Honey-show. 

colonies,  even  in  winter.  Still,  I  approximate  it  with  five  frames 
on  one  side  and  three  on  the  other,  and  of  course  the  hive  could 
be  divided  to  take  four  frames  on  each  side. 

There  is  nothing  new  or  original  about  two  colonies  in  one 
hive,  among  others  Dzierzon’s  twin  hives  having  been  highly 
esteemed  by  him  and  others  for  many  years.  These,  however, 
are  used  the  same  all  the  year  around,  and  my  use  of  them  is 
only  during  the  time  of  year  when  bees  can  be  crowded  into  a 
less  space  than  a  full  hive. 

From  the  time  the  bees  are  fed  in  the  summer  or  fall,  till 
perhaps  the  middle  of  May,  most  of  my  colonies  would  have 


278 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


room  enough  in  one  half  of  a  ten-frame  hive.  I  am  not  sure 
that  any  of  them  ever  need  more  room  through  the  fall  and 
winter,  and  in  the  spring  they  need  no  more  till  more  than  four 
frames  are  needed  for  brood.  With  some,  this  may  come  quite 
early,  but  I  think  I  should  be  well  satisfied  if  I  could  get  all  my 
colonies  to  contain  four  combs  well  filled  with  brood  by  the 


Fig.  105 — Weighing  Colonies . 

middle  of  May.  Some  of  them  may  have  at  that  time  brood  in 
nine  or  ten  frames,  but  more  of  them  could  have  all  their  brood 
crowded  into  three  or  four  combs. 

ADVANTAGE  OF  DOUBLE  HIVES. 

Now  if,  during  the  time  I  have  mentioned,  we  can  have  two 
colonies  in  one  hive,  we  shall,  I  think,  find  it  advantageous  in 
more  than  one  direction.  It  is  a  common  thing  for  beekeepers 
to  unite  two  weak  colonies  in  the  fall.  Suppose  a  beekeeper  has 
two  colonies  in  the  fall,  each  occupying  two  combs.  He  unites 
them  so  they  will  winter  better.  If  they  would  not  quarrel  and 
would  stay  wherever  they  were  put,  he  could  place  the  two 
frames  of  the  one  hive  beside  the  two  frames  in  the  other  hive, 
and  the  thing  would  be  done.  Now,  suppose  that  a  thin  divi- 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


279 


sion-board  were  placed  between  the  two  sets  of  combs,  would 
he  not  see  the  same  result?  Not  quite,  I  think,  but  nearly  so. 
They  would  hardly  be  so  warm  as  without  the  division-board, 
but  nearly  so ;  and  both  queens  would  be  saved.  In  the  spring 
it  is  desirable  to  keep  the  beees  warm.  If  two  colonies  are  in 
one  hive,  with  a  thin  division-board  between  them,  they  will  t  e 
much  warmer  than  if  in  separate  hives.  The  same  thing  is  true 
in  winter.  I  have  had  weak  nuclei  with  two  combs  come  through 
in  good  condition  during  a  winter  in  which  I  lost  heavily,  these 
nuclei  having  no  extra  care  or  protection  other  than  being  in  a 
double  hive.  You  would  understand  the  reason  of  all  this  easily 
if  in  winter  you  would  look  into  one  of  these  double  hives  in  the 
cellar.  On  each  side  the  bees  are  clustered  up  against  the 
division-board,  and  it  looks  exactly  as  if  the  bees  had  all  been 
in  one  single  cluster,  and  then  the  division-board  pushed  down 
through  the  center  of  the  cluster. 

Now  suppose  we  have  100  colonies  that  are  all  fed  up  for 
winter  and  they  are  then  put  into  double  hives.  Please  under¬ 
stand  that  there  is  little  or  no  extra  expense  for  these  double 
hives.  They  are  just  the  regular  hives,  only  we  take  special 
pains  to  see  that  the  division-board  is  perfectly  bee-tight.  If 
the  hives  are  to  be  hauled  home,  as  I  haul  mine  each  fall,  there 
are  only  50  instead  of  100  to  haul;  just  half  the  bulk,  and  a 
much  less  weight  than  the  100  would  be.  Just  half  the  hives 
are  to  be  handled  in  taking  in  and  out  of  winter  quarters ;  j  ust 
half  the  room  is  occupied  in  winter  quarters;  and  I  think, 
although  I  do  not  know,  that  the  bees  will  winter  better  than  if 
only  one  colony  in  a  hive.  If  they  are  to  be  taken,  in  the  spring, 
to  a  distant  apiary,  there  is  the  advantage  of  hauling  only  50 
hives  instead  of  100.  If,  in  the  spring,  any  colony  be  found 
queenless  it  is  in  fine  position  to  be  united  with  its  fellow 
colony. 


CHANGING  FEOM  SINGLE  TO  DOUBLE  HIVES. 

Possibly  you  may  be  ready  to  agree  with  me  so  far  as  to  say, 
“  Certainly,  the  thing  looks  desirable,  but  is  it  feasible?  Will 
not  the  trouble  counterbalance  all  advantage?”  I  know  it  is 
usually  a  matter  of  some  trouble  to  change  a  colony  from  one 
location  to  another  in  the  same  apiary.  I  think,  however,  that 


280 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


I  have  reduced  the  trouble  to  a  minimum.  I  will  give  you  my 
plan  and  you  can -judge  for  yourself. 

As  I  have  already  told  you,  my  hives  stand  in  pairs,  and  I 
kept  them  so,  years  before  I  thought  of  double  hives.  Some 
time  before  the  change  is  made  to  double  hives,  the  entrances  of 
the  hives  are  closed  at  one  side,  so  that  the  bees  become  accus¬ 
tomed  to  using  the  same  side  of  the  entrance  that  they  will  use 
when  thrown  into  the  double  hive,  that  is,  the  right-hand  colony 
will  use  the  right-hand  side  of  its  entrance,  and  the  left-hand 
colony  will  use  the  left-hand  side  of  its  entrance.  Each  colony 
will  have  four  of  its  combs  so  solid  with  honey  that  it  will  be 
well  provisioned. 

Remembering  that  the  two  colonies  of  a  pair  are  on  the  same 
stand,  we  now  remove  both  hives  from  the  stand  and  set  the 
double  hive  on  the  middle  of  the  stand.  Then  the  four  combs 
from  the  right-hand  hive  will  be  put  with  their  bees  in  the 
right-hand  side  of  the  double  colony,  and  the  rest  of  the  bees 
brushed  from  the  other  combs.  The  left-hand  side  is  treated 
the  same  way.  Some  bees  will  still  be  left  in  the  depopulated 
hives;  so  these  hives  can  be  set  at  each  side,  the  entrance  of  the 
empty  hive  at  the  proper  entrance  of  the  double  hive,  and  left 
there  long  enough  for  the  bees  to  . crawl  in  and  join  their  com¬ 
panions. 

The  matter  is  now  accomplished  and  it  has  been  no  long  or 
difficult  job.  The  bees  use  the  new  entrance  almost  as  readily 
as  the  old.  To  them  their  hive  seems  moved  less  than  its  width 
to  one  side,  and  there  is  no  possible  danger  of  their  entering  the 
wrong  place.  I  have  tried  it,  and  watched  the  result,,  therefore 
I  speak  of  not  what  the  bees  ought  to  do,  but  what  they  do  do. 

CHANGING  FROM  DOUBLE  TO  SINGLE  HIVES. 

Can  we  as  easily  get  them  back  into  two  hives  in  the  spring 
when  they  become  crowded  in  this  double  hive?  Just  exactly 
as  easily.  We  simply  reverse  the  operation.  Take  the  double 
hive  from  its  place  and  replace  it  with  the  two  hives,  then  re¬ 
move  the  contents  of  the  double  hive  and  put  them  in  the  proper 
single  hives,  and  the  bees  will  go  every  time  to  the  right  place. 
I  speak  again  from  personal  observation  as  to  what  the  bees 
actually  do. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


281 


BRINGING  BEES  HOME  IN  THE  FALL. 

In  the  fall,  the  bees  must  be  brought  home  from  the  out- 
apiary  so  as  to  be  wintered  in  the  cellar. 

There  are  always  a  few  things  upon  which  bees  can  work 
till  quite  late;  so  it  is  desirable  to  be  as  late  as  possible  bringing 
them  home.  They  must,  however,  be  brought  home  early  enough 
so  they  will  be  sure  of  a  good  flight  after  being  brought  home 
and  before  being  put  in  the  cellar.  Some  say  they  may  be 


Fig.  106 — Colonies  Home  from  Out-apiaries. 

r 

safely  put  into  the  cellar  without  the  flight,  but  one  winter  part 
of  mine  were  put  in  without  a  flight,  and  that  part  wintered 
distinctly  worse  than  the  others.  At  the  latest,  I  want  them 
home  before  Nov.  1.  When  brought  home  they  are  placed 
conveniently  near  the  cellar  door  (Fig.  106). 

WHEN  TO  PUT  BEES  INTO  CELLAR. 

It  is  a  thing  impossible  to  know  beforehand  just  what  is  the 
best  time  to  take  bees  into  the  cellar.  At  best  it  can  be  only  a 
guess.  Living  in  a  region  where  winters  are  severe,  there  are 


282 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


some  years  in  which  there  will  be  no  chance  for  bees  to  have  a 
flight  after  the  middle  of  November  till  the  next  spring,  and  I 
think  there  was  one  year  without  a  bight-day  after  the  first  of 
November.  One  feels  bad  to  put  his  bees  into  the  cellar  the 
first  week  in  November,  and  then  two  or  three  weeks  later  have 
a  beautiful  day  for  a  flight.  But  he  feels  a  good  deal  worse 
after  a  good  flight-day  the  first  week  in  November  to  wait  for  a 
later  flight,  then  have  it  turn  very  cold,  and  after  waiting 
through  two  or  three  weeks  of  such  weather  to  give  up  hope  of 
any  later  flight  and  put  in  his  bees  after  two  or  three  weeks’ 
endurance  of  severe  freezing  weather.  So  it  is  better  to  err  on 
the  side  of  getting  bees  in  too  early. 

Theoretically,  the  right  time  to  cellar  bees  is  the  next  day 
after  they  have  had  their  last  flight  for  the  season,  and  one  must 
do  the  best  he  can  to  judge  after  any  flight-day  whether  it  is 
the  last  or  not.  More  than  one  reason  can  be  given  for  taking 
in  next  day  after  a  flight.  The  hives  are  dry;  there  are  no 
accumulations  of  frost  or  ice  inside ;  and  the  bees  are  unusually 
quiet.  All  the  better  if  the  next  morning  is  cool,  as  it  is  likely 
to  be.  Sometimes,  however,  one  cannot  have  everything  as  he 
wants  it,  and  I  have  been  caught  taking  in  bees  in  a  snow-storm. 
Better  take  them  in  during  the  storm  than  after  it  is  all  over 
and  constantly  growing  colder.  But  it  seems  to  do  no  harm  for 
them  to  be  taken  in  covered  with  snow. 

PREPARING  THE  CELLAR. 

For  twenty-four  hours  before  taking  in — perhaps  for  several 
days — doors  and  windows  of  the  cellar  are  kept  wide  open,  so 
as  to  air  it  out  thoroughly,  and  perhaps  the  walls  are  white¬ 
washed  and  the  floor  limed,  although  this  is  generally  done  after 
taking  out  in  the  spring.  Strips  of  board  are  placed  on  the 
ground  so  that  the  bottom  hive  has  its  bottom-board  an  inch  or 
two  above  the  ground  at  the  front  end,  and  an  inch  more  at  the 
back  end. 

CARRYING  IN  HIVES. 

Hives  are  carried  in  just  as  they  are,  because  before  the  time 
for  hauling  bees  home  all  false  bottoms  were  removed,  and  the 
bottom-boards  fastened  to  the  hives  where  necessary.  With  the 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


283 


large  ventilating  space  at  the  entrance,  and  with  abundance  of 
stores,  there  is  no  need  to  loosen  the  gluing  of  a  cover  from 
before  the  time  a  colony  is  hauled  home  till  after  the  time  for 
hauling  back  in  spring. 

PILING  HIVES  IN  CELLAR. 

The  hives  are  piled  five  high,  each  pile  independent  of  the 
others,  so  jarring  one  hive  can  jar  only  four  others.  First  a 
row  of  piles  is  put  at  the  further  side  of  the  cellar,  the  hives 


f  ’S'" 

W\\* 


Fig.  107. — Dripping-pan  Wax-extractor. 


close  side  by  side,  entrances  facing  the  wall,  with  a  space  of 
about  two  feet  between  them  and  the  wall.  Then  another  row 
is  placed  back  to  back  close  up  against  this  row.  Then  comes  a 
space  of  about  two  feet,  and  another  row  facing  the  space,  so 
that  entrances  face  each  side  of  the  space.  Then  comes  another 
row,  back  to  back,  and  so  on.  That  makes  the  hives  in  double 
rows,  back  to  back,  with  a  two-foot  space  in  which  to  get  at  the 
entrances. 

As  far  as  convenient,  the  heavier  hives  are  put  at  the  bottom, 
and  lighter  at  top.  It  is  easier  work  to  do  so,  and  the  lighter 


284 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ones  have  perhaps  the  advantage  by  being  higher  up,  where  it 
is  a  little  warmer. 

CARRYING  IN  BEES  WHEN  ROUSED  UP. 

Often  the  beees  get  so  warmed  up  by  the  middle  of  the  fore¬ 
noon,  that  they  fly  out  when  their  hive  is  lifted  to  be  carried 
into  the  cellar.  In  this  case  the  hive  is  put  back  on  its  summer 
stand,  and  another  colony,  less  wide-awake,  is  taken.  But  if  the 
rousing  up  becomes  general,  operations  must  cease  until  the 
after-part  of  the  day  or  the  next  morning.  If  for  any  reason, 
as  the  lateness  of  the  season,  or  the  fear  of  an  approaching 
storm,  it  is  thought  best  to  carry  in  a  hive  whether  the  bees  are 
willing  or  not,  the  entrance  must  be  stopped.  For  this  purpose 
— as  there  is  no  danger  of  suffocation  from  stopping  for  a  short 
time — I  know  of  nothing  better  than  a  large  rag  or  cloth  which 
will  easily  cover  the  entire  entrance.  The  rag  must  be  dripping 
wet.  In  this  condition  it  can  be  very  quickly  laid  at  the  en¬ 
trance,  and  being  cold  and  wet  the  bees  seem  to  be  driven  back 
by  it,  and  when  the  rag  is  removed  in  the  cellar,  few  if  any  bees 
come  out.  If  dry,  the  bees  would  sting  the  rag,  and  upon  its 
removal  in  the  cellar  a  crowd  of  angry  bees  would  follow  it. 

WARMING  THE  CELLAR. 

There  is  a  furnace  in  the  cellar  where  my  bees  are  kept, 
which  has  been  there  since  the  winter  of  1902-3.  But  let  us  go 
back  to  the  time  before  that,  when  the  chief  difficulty  was  to 
keep  the  cellar  warm  enough.  Some  think  it  a  bad  thing  to 
have  fire  in  cellar.  I  would  rather  have  the  right  temperature 
without  the  fire.  So  I  would  in  my  sitting-room.  But  when 
the  temperature  in  the  sitting-room  without  a  fire  gets  down  in 
the  neighborhood  of  zero,  I  would  rather  have  the  fire.  Same 
way  in  the  cellar.  In  this  latitude,  42  degrees  north,  I  have 
known  the  mercury  to  reach  37  degrees  below  zero,  and  some 
winters  there  is  very  little  of  the  time  when  my  cellar  is  warm 
enough  for  the  bees,  xl  thermometer  hangs  centrally  in  the 
cellar,  and  I  try  to  keep  it  at  about  45  degrees.  Sometimes  it 
goes  to  36  degrees,  but  not  often,  and  not  for  long.  Oftener  it 
reaches  50  degrees,  but  that  is  neither  often  nor  long. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


2S5 


STOVE  IN  CELLAR. 

Whenever  the  thermometer  appears  to  have  any  fixed 
determination  to  stay  below  45  degrees,  a  fire  is  started.  I 
would  not  think  of  using  an  oil-stove,  nor  any  thing  of  the  kind 
that  would  allow  the  gases  to  escape  in  the  cellar.  A  chimney 


Fig.  103 — Screwing  Down  War- press. 

goes  from  the  ground  up  through  the  house,  and  a  hard-coal 
stove  is  used.  For  many  years  I  used  a  common  small  cylinder 
stove,  having  an  inside  diameter  of  about  8  inches  between  the 
fire-brick.  Then  I  used  a  low-down  open  or  Franklin  stove, 
and  I  think  I  like  it  as  well  or  better.  With  either  stove  there 
is  the  open  fire,  and  one  might  fear  that  the  bees  would  fly  into 
it,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  do  so.  Neither  does  any  harm 


286 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


come  to  the  hives  that  stand  within  two  feet  of  the  stove,  for 
the  stove  is  right  in  the  same  room  as  the  bees.  A  few  minutes’ 
attention  each  morning  and  evening  will  keep  the  fire  going 
continuously,  in  case  it  is  needed  continuously.  There  have 
been  winters  when  fire  was  kept  going  nearly  all  the  winter 
through,  and  other  winters  when  little  was  needed.  The  winter 
of  1901-2  was  one  of  the  mild  ones.  A  fire  started  Dec.  21  was 
kept  for  three  days.  Another,  Jan.  27.  lasted  one  day.  A  third 
started  Feb.  3  lasted  seventeen  days.  I  think  the  outer  temper¬ 
ature  was  at  no  time  more  than  15  degrees  below  zero. 

HEAT  FOR  DIARRHOEA. 

I  do  not  know  for  certain,  but  I  think  I  have  had  good 
results  at  a  time  when  diarrhoea  began  to  trouble  the  bees  in 
the  cellar,  by  making  a  hot  fire  and  running  up  the  temperature 
above  60  degrees.  The  bees  would  become  very  noisv,  but  after 
the  cellar  cooled  down  to  the  normal  45  degrees  they  were  quiet¬ 
er  than  before,  and  I  suspect  the  bees  felt  better. 

VENTILATION  OF  CELLAR. 

I  believe  heartily  in  the  doctrine  of  pure  air  and  plenty  of 
it  for  man,  beast,  and  bee.  So  I  consider  ventilation  a  very 
important  affair.  With  a  two-inch  space  under  the  bottom- 
bars  and  a  12  x  2  entrance,  there  is  no  trouble  about  the  ven¬ 
tilation  of  the  hive;  but  no  matter  how  well  ventilated  a  hive 
may  be,  if  the  cellar  in  which  it  is  placed  contains  nothing  but 
foul  air,  how  can  the  air  in  the  hive  be  sweet? 

FIRE  FOR  VENTILATION. 

I  am  not  sure  but  I  should  want  a  fire  in  a  cellar  for  the  sake 
of  ventilation  even  if  not  needed  for  heat. 

F or  the  purpose  of  ventilation  alone,  the  warmer  the  weather 
the  more  the  fire  in  the  cellar  is  needed.  Of  course  there  must 
be  some  limit  to  this,  for  when  the  temperature  of  the  cellar 
goes  above  60  degrees,  the  bees  show  signs  of  uneasiness. 

WARM  SPELLS  IN  WINTERING. 

The  most  difficult  time  to  keep  the  bees  quiet  in  the  cellar,  is 
when  a  warm  spell  comes  in  the  fall  soon  after  taking  them  in, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


2S/ 

or  early  in  the  spring.  At  such  times  I  open  up  the  cellar  at 
dark.  If  very  warm,  all  doors  and  windows  are  opened  wide 
and  by  morning  generally  all  are  quiet.  I  leave  all  open  as 
long  as  possible  in  the  morning;  sometimes  till  noon;  when  the 
bees  begin  to  fly  out  all  must  be  darkened.  V ery  likely  it  would 
be  better  if  there  were  a  way  to  admit  air  in  abundance  without 
admitting  light. 


COOLING  AND  AIRING  CELLAR. 

Years  ago,  when  the  temperature  became  too  high  in  the 
cellar  in  spring,  and  I  wanted  to  keep  the  bees  in  the  cellar  still 
longer,  I  tided  cooling  down  with  cakes  of  ice.  But  it  was  not 
satisfactory.  The  trouble  was  not  so  much  with  the  tempera¬ 
ture  as  the  quality  of  the  air.  Then  I  learned  that  opening  the 
cellar  was  more  effectual. 

OPENING  CELLAR  AT  NIGHT. 

The  first  time  I  tried  that  trick  I  got  a  pretty  bad  scare.  It 
was  in  the  spring,  and  there  came  a  warm  spell,  lasting  perhaps 
two  or  three  days.  It  kept  getting  warmer  in  the  cellar,  and 
the  bees  kept  getting  noisier.  At  the  same  time  I  kept  getting 
more  uneasv.  not  knowing  iust  what  the  end  would  be.  After  the 
trouble  got  pretty  bad,  I  thought  I  would  venture  to  open  the 
cellar  wide  in  the  evening,  hoping  that  it  might  become  cooler 
through  the  night.  I  think  it  was  50  or  60  degrees  outside,  and 
not  far  from  that  in  the  cellar.  The  bees  were  quite  noisy  when 
the  cellar  was  opened,  and  I  listened  closely  for  the  quieting 
down.  It  didn't  come.  On  the  contrary,  the  noise  increased  to 
a  roar  that  could  be  heard  some  distance  from  the  cellar,  and 
the  bees  were  running  all  over  the  hives,  some  of  them  hanging 
out  in  great  clusters  as  if  getting  ready  to  swarm.  I  felt  afraid 
they  would  all  leave  their  hives  and  make  a  wreck.  I  assure 
you  I  was  badly  frightened;  but  I  didn’t  know  of  any  thing  to 
do,  so  I  didn’t  do  any  thing.  As  nearly  as  I  now  remember,  I 
did  not  go  to  bed  till  I  could  recognize  a  little  subsiding,  and 
in  the  morning  the  bees  were  back  in  their  hives  as  quiet  as 
mice:  More  than  once  since  then  I  have  gone  through  the  same 
performance  without  being  troubled  by  it;  only  the  cellar  is 
not  allowed  to  get  so  bad  before  it  is  opened. 


288 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


LETTING  LIGHT  IN  CELLAR. 

Here  is  a  memorandum  written  March  14,  1902 :  u  During 
the  past  eight  days  the  weather  has  been  unusually  warm  for 
the  season,  varying  from  29  to  65  degrees.  The  doors  have 
been  wide  open  day  and  night  except  on  the  two  warmest  days, 
and  the  (east)  window  part  of  the  time.  Three  days  ago  it 
was  65  degrees  in  the  afternoon.  Within  twenty-four  hours  the 
ground  was  covered  with  snow,  and  yesterday  morning  the 
mercury  stood  at  29  degrees.  At  7  a.  m.  to-day,  it  was  35 


Fig.  109’. — Emptying  Out  Slumgum. 

degrees  without  and  44  degrees  in  the  cellar,  doors  and  window 
having  been  open  all  night.  At  9  a.  m.  it  was  46  degrees  outside 
and  45  degrees  in  the  cellar.  The  sun  shone  directly  into  some 
of  the  entrances  near  the  window  without  disturbing  the  bees. 
At  10  :30  a.  m.  it  was  52  degrees  outside  and  47  degrees  in  the 
cellar ;  the  bees  still  quiet.  At  11  A.  M.  it  was  53  degrees  with¬ 
out  and  48  in  the  cellar.  In  five  minutes  by  the  watch  I  counted 
fifteen  bees  which  flew  to  the  window.  I  then  closed  the  window, 
leaving  the  doors  wide  open.  At  12  o’clock  it  was  still  53  degrees 
without  and  49  degrees  in  the  cellar.  In  five  minutes  I  counted 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


*28y 


five  bees  flying  to  the  door.  The  light  does  not  shine  directly 
into  the  room  where  the  bees  are,  they  being  in  an  inside  room. 
I  can  see  to  read  easily  at  the  hives  nearest  the  door.  At  3 :20 
it  was  55  degrees  outside  and  50  degrees  in  cellar.  In  five 
minutes  I  counted  three  bees  flying  to  the  door.  It  was  then 
getting  cloudy,  the  sun  having  been  shining  most  of  the  day. 
I  opened  the  window  for  five  minutes  and  twelve  bees  flew  to  it. 
At  6  P.  M.  the  window  was  opened  again,  leaving  all  wide  open 
till  it  should  again  become  bright  enough  on  the  next  or  some 
following  day  to  make  the  bees  fly  out,  or  cold  enough  to  bring 
the  mercury  down  too  far  in  the  cellar.” 

I  have  not  given  this  as  an  example  of  the  perfection  of 
wintering.  It  is  far  from  that.  But  it  shows  that  after  119 
days  of  confinement  the  bees  withstand  a  good  deal  of  light 
and  warmth  without  showing  much  insubordination,  providing 
they  have  an  abundance  of  good  air.  It  must  be  higher  than 
45  degrees  to  induce  them  out  when  in  good  condition. 

SUB-EARTH  VENTILATOR. 

Some  years  ago  I  put  in  a  sub-earth  ventilator  of  4-inch  tile, 
100  feet  long  and  4  feet  deep.  It  was  of  common  porous  drain - 
tile,  and  becoming  a  little  skeptical  of  the  quality  of  the  air 
admitted  I  allowed  it  to  become  filled  up.  I  am  not  sure  that  I 
did  wisely.  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  an  air-tight  pipe 
large  enough  and  deep  enough  would  be  a  great  aid  to  success¬ 
ful  cellaring. 


MICE  IN  BEE-CELLARS. 

Mice  are  troublesome  denizens  of  cellars  in  winter.  Even  if 
a  cellar  should  be  entirely  free  from  them,  they  are  likely  to  be 
brought  into  the  cellar  with  the  bees  when  the  hives  are  brought 
in.  Some  winters  I  have  closed  the  entrances  with  heavy  wire- 
cloth  having  three  meshes  to  the  inch.  This  shuts  out  mice 
without  hindering  the  free  passage  of  bees.  Even  if  a  mouse 
is  shut  up  in  a  hive,  it  will  not  be  so  bad  as  to  let  it  have  the 
free  run  of  the  cellar.  Other  winters  traps  have  been  u$ed  and 
various  poisons,  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  poison  being 
strychnine  thinly  spread  upon  very  thin  slices  of  cheese,  the 
cheese  being  then  cut  into  tiny  squares. 


290 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


CLEANING  OUT  DEAD  BEES. 

Aside  from  attending  to  warming  and  ventilating  my  cellar, 
and  waging  war  against  the  mice,  I  think  of  no  other  attention 
given  to  the  bees  through  the  winter,  except  cleaning  out  the 
dead  bees.  For  cleaning  them  out  of  those  hives  which  have 
them — for  some  reason  of  which  I  am  not  yet  sure,  there  are 
some  hives  which  contain  scarcely  a  dead  bee — I  have  a  very 
simple  tool.  It  is  a  piece  of  round,  ^-inch  or  smaller  iron  rod, 
with  one  end  hammered  flat  for  about  two  inches  and  bent  at 
right  angles,  making  something  like  a  hook.  With  this  hook  I 
can  reach  into  the  hive  under  the  frames  and  scrape  out  the 
dead  bees. 

I  have  a  common  kerosene  hand-lamp  with  a  sheet-iron  chim¬ 
ney  having  a  little  mica  window  on  one  side — such  as  is  used 
for  heating  water  on  lamps.  This  serves  as  a  dark-lantern, 
making  little  light  except  in  one  direction.  Holding  the  lamp 
in  my  left  hand,  I  look  in  to  see  whether  any  live  bees  are  in 
sight.  Often  I  see  the  cluster  near  the  front  of  the  hive,  oftener 
at  the  center  or  back  part  of  the  hive,  the  bees  looking  as  if 
dead,  so  still  are  they;  but  in  a  few  seconds  some  one  will  be 
seen  to  stir.  Sometimes  the  cluster  will  come  clear  down  so  as 
to  touch  the  bottom-board,  and  sometimes  not  a  bee  will  be 
seen  below  or  between  the  bottom-bars.  When  the  cluster  comes 
clear  down,  there  may  or  there  may  not  be  bees  on  the  bottom- 
board.  In  any  case,  all  the  dead  bees  are  cleaned  out  that  can 
be  got  without  disturbing  the  living.  There  is,  as  has  been  said, 
a  difference  as  to  the  number  of  dead  bees  in  different  colonies, 
and  there  seems  also  a  difference  in  different  winters.  In  some 
cases  perhaps  the  dead  bees  all  reach  the  cellar  bottom,  in 
others  staying  in  the  hive. 

SWEEPING  UP  DEAD  BEES. 

It  is  very  unpleasant  to  have  the  dead  bees  under  foot  on  the 
cellar  bottom.  Some  fasten  them  in  the  hive.  Some  sprinkle 
sawdust  on  the  floor.  In  either  case  they  are  left  in  the  cellar 
to  foul  the  air.  It  seems  much  better  to  sweep  out  the  cellar. 
During  the  first  part  of  the  winter  very  few  bees  will  be  on  the 
floor,  and  sweeping  once  a  month  will  be  enough,  or  more  than 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


291 


enough.  Toward  spring  the  deaths  will  be  very  much  more 
frequent,  and  the  sweeping  must  be  more  frequent.  As  giving 
a  more  definite  idea  with  regard  to  this,  I  find  by  referring  to 
the  record  that  in  the  winter  of  1901-2  the  cellar  was  not  swept 
till  January  29 — seventy-five  days  after  the  bees  were  taken  in. 
Then  it  was  swept  again  after  respective  intervals  of  twenty- 
one,  nineteen,  and  five  days,  the  quantity  swept  out  each  time 
being  about  the  same.  That  gives  some  idea  of  the  greater 


Fig.  110. — Nail-boxes. 


mortality  as  spring  approaches.  One  winter,  when  the  bees 
were  confined  124  days,  the  dead  bees  for  each  colony  amounted 
to  four-fifths  of  a  quart  or  three-fifths  of  a  pound,  which  made 
about.  2130  bees  for  each  colony.  I  think  the  mortality  is  usu¬ 
ally  greater  than  that. 

FURNACE  IN  CELLAR. 

In  the  year  1902  the  coal  famine  following  the  great  anthra¬ 
cite  strike  caught  me  with  four  hard-coal  stoves  and  no  coal  to 
put  in  them — indeed,  no  prospect  of  getting  any,  and  winter 
close  at  hand. 


292 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


About  that  time  my  friend  E.  R.  Root  happened  to  be  here, 
and  strongly  advised  as  the  best  way  out  of  the  dilemma  to  have 
a  furnace  put  in — one  big  enough  to  heat  the  whole  house,  and 
of  such  character  as  to  burn  wood,  green  or  dry,  coal,  hard  or 
soft,  and  indeed  any  thing  having  any  inclination  toward  com¬ 
bustibility.  I  followed  his  advice,  or  rather  I  outran  it,  for  I 
got  a  larger  furnace  than  he  thought  advisable,  the  fire-pot 
being  27  inches  in  diameter.  I  am  not  sorry  the  furnace  is  so 
large  so  far  as  heating  the  house  is  concerned,  for  it  makes  a 
delightful  summer  temperature  in  any  part  of  the  house,  no 
matter  how  cold  the  weather,  without  any  of  that  unpleasant 
and  unwholesome  burnt-air  effect.  But  it  made  a  matter  of 
impossibility  for  me  to  think  of  keeping  the  temperature  of  the 
bee-room  down  to  45  degrees;  and  since  that  time,  instead  of 
having  to  make  an  effort  to  keep  the  cellar  warm  enough,  the 
problem  has  been  to  keep  it  cool  enough. 

unfavorable  conditions. 

Conditions  for  successful  wintering  were  by  no  means  the 
best. 

The  workmen  that  set  up  the  furnace  were  late  in  finishing 
up  the  last  part  of  the  work  in  the  cellar,  so  that  the  bees  were 
not  put  in  till  the  8th  of  December.  On  that  day  the  tempera¬ 
ture  was  8  degrees  below  zero.  It  would  have  been  much  better 
to  leave  them  out  for  another  flight  if  I  had  been  sure  of  a 
day  warm  enough  without  waiting  too  long.  But  I  was  not 
sure  of  that,  and  I  thought  it  better  for  them  to  be  taken  in  in 
rather  bad  condition  than  to  run  the  risk  of  leaving  them  out 
longer.  The  sequel  showed  1  was  wise  in  so  doing,  for  no  day 
warm  enough  for  a  flight  came  until  February  26. 

A  thin  partition  of  lath  and  plaster  is  all  that  separates  the 
bee-room  from  the  room  in  which  the  furnace  is  located,  and 
the  thermometer  in  the  bee-room  generally  showed  a  tempera¬ 
ture  of  50  degrees.  Some  of  the  hot-air  pipes  pass  through  the 
bee-room  overhead;  and  a  thermometer  laid  on  one  of  the  two 
hives  directly  under  one  of  these  pipes  nearest  the  furnace 
showed  a  temperature  of  70  degrees.  The  pipe  is  covered  with 
asbestos  paper,  but  there  was  only  a  space  of  about  three  inches 
between  the  pipe  and  the  top  of  the  hives.  There  was  plenty  of 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


293 


room  to  set  these  colonies  in  a  cooler  place,  but  they  were 
allowed  to  stay  right  where  they  were  to  see  what  the  result 
would  be.  They  wintered  beautifully — until  they  died.  They 
starved  to  death,  and  that  not  so  very  late  in  winter,  although 
1  think  they  were  well  supplied  with  stores.  No  doubt  the  heat 
kept  them  so  active  that  they  used  up  their  stores  with  unusual 
rapidity. 


BAD  WINTERING. 

Under  the  circumstances  I  figured  on  considerable  loss.  The 
loss  went  beyond  my  figuring.  Not  that  the  deaths  all  occurred 
in  the  cellar.  They  were  largely  after  the  bees  were  taken  out 
in  the  spring;  none  the  less,  however,  they  were  chargeable  to 
bad  wintering.  By  the  12th  of  May  there  were  left  only  124 
colonies  out  of  199  put  in  cellar,  and  many  of  them  were  mere 
nuclei.  A  loss  of  37  per  cent  was  not  gratifying;  but,  beekeep¬ 
erlike,  I  looked  forward  hopefully  to  the  next  winter. 

Alas  for  my  hopes!  Instead  of  37  per  cent,  the  loss  for  the 
winter  of  1903-04  was  47  per  cent,  leaving  150  colonies  alive 
out  of  284.  And  the  loss  was  mainly  due  to  lack  of  sufficient 
stores.  Some  of  them  had  died  in  the  cellar,  and  more  would 
have  died  there  if  they  had  not  been  taken  out  a  little  earlier 
than  was  well,  so  they  could  be  fed.  But  feeding  very  early 
in  spring  is  not  so  well  as  having  an  abundance  of  stores  in  the 
fall,  and  the  mortality  continued  well  along  in  spring.  The 
fact  that  after  so  many  years  of  experience,  and  after  advising 
others  always  to  have  abundant  stores  for  winter,  I  should  have 
lost  colonies  by  the  score  through  starvation,  was  humiliating 
indeed. 

But  conditions  were  new  and  I  needed  to  learn  that  in  a 
cellar  with  the  thermometer  generally  ranging  from  50  to  60, 
and  sometimes  going  higher,  bees  consume  stores  much  more 
rapidly  than  at  a  lower  temperature,  and  to  the  increasing 
number  of  those  who  are  putting  furnaces  in  cellars,  I  would 
say,  “  Look  out  for  starvation.” 

But  along  with  the  disadvantage  mentioned,  there  are  not 
lacking  advantages.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  advantage  rather 
than  advantages,  for  the  one  great  advantage  is  that  of  an 
abundant  supply  of  pure,  fresh  air.  Except  in  the  very 


294 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


severest  weather,  the  outside  cellar  door  is  more  or  less  open, 
and  the  air  in  the  cellar  is  sweeter  than  in  many — perhaps  most 
— living-rooms.  That’s  good  for  the  people  living  over  the 
cellar,  and  it  must  be  good  for  the  bees.  Inside  the  hives  the 
combs  are  just  as  dry  and  nice  as  in  summer.  No  dampness, 
uo  mold,  no  musty  smell. 

It  seems  nice  to  look  into  a  hive  and  find  so  few  dead  bees 
lying  on  the  bottom-board,  often  none.  When  a  bee  wants  to 
die,  it  is  warm  enough  so  it  can  come  outside,  just  as  in  summer. 

It  would  be  better  if  it  was  so  arranged  that  fresh  air  could 
enter  without  the  light.  During  the  first  part  of  the  winter,  the 
bees  do  not  seem  to  mind  the  light  at  all,  and  not  very  much  till 
toward  spring,  when  the  door  must  be  closed  in  daytime.  But 
there  is  no  need  to  be  unduly  frightened  by  a  few  bees  coming 
out;  for  bees  will  get  old  and  die  oft,  no  matter  how  dark  the 
cellar  is  kept;  and  there  may  be  some  question  whether  a  little 
light  is  as  bad  as  the  fouler  air  when  the  cellar  is  closed. 

GOOD  WINTERING. 

Having  had  such  a  severe  lesson,  you  may  be  sure  that  in 
succeeding  years  I  took  pains  to  see  that  before  the  bees  went 
into  the  cellar  they  had  enough  stores  to  stand  a  winter  temper¬ 
ature  of  50  or  60  degrees.  The  result  has  been  very  gratifying. 
I  no  longer  have  anxiety  about  wintering,  and  do  not  expect 
any  colonies  to  die  unless  it  be  from  queenlessness. 

Some  one  may  say,  u  But  why  don’t  you  make  sure  that  no 
queenless  colony  goes  into  the  cellar?  ”  Possibly  that  might  be 
better;  but  I  doubt.  The  queenless  colony  is  not  worth  very 
much  at  that  time  of  year,  and  anything  that  would  be  done 
with  it  would  hardly  pay  for  the  trouble  of  hunting  through  a 
number  of  colonies,  causing  them  no  little  disturbance. 

On  the  whole  I  am  quite  in  favor  of  a  furnace  in  cellar.  To 
be  sure,  it  does  away  with  one  argument  in  favor  of  cellaring, 
for  there  may  be  as  heavy  consumption  of  stores  as  on  the 
summer  stands,  but  that  is  greatly  overbalanced  by  having  the 
bees  practically  outdoors  all  winter  in  a  very  mild  climate.  For 
with  the  abundance  of  fresh  air  allowed,  are  they  not  practically 
outdoors  ?  Besides  that,  I  think  the  bees  are  stronger — I  mean 
each  individual  bee  is  stronger — when  well  wintered  outdoors 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


°.95 


than  when  wintered  in  the  usual  close  cellar,  and  I  think  there 
will  be  that  same  strength  when  wintered  in  a  cellar  with  a 
furnace  and  a  full  supply  of  outdoor  air. 

EUROPEAN  FOUL  BROOD. 

In  the  year  1907  a  number  of  cells  of  dead  brood  were  found 
in  colony  No.  13.  I  cannot  now  be  certain  of  it,  but  I  think  a 
few  such  dead  brood  had  been  seen  a  year  or  two  previously. 
A  large  cherry  orchard  in  easy  range  of  my  bees  had  been 
sprayed  before  the  blossoms  had  fallen,  and  it  was  easy  to 
believe  that  the  poison  sprayed  on  these  blossoms  was  account¬ 
able  for  the  dead  brood.  Nothing  was  done  about  it,  and  No. 
13  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  best  in  the  apiary.  In  1908  I 
think  some  cells  of  dead  brood  were  found  in  two  colonies.  The 
season  was  good,  and  no  attention  was  paid  to  it,  the  idea  still 
being  that  the  poisonous  spray  was  the  cause  of  the  trouble. 

Beginning  with  the  year  1909  I  decided  to  give  up  the  last 
out-apiary  (the  Wilson),  and  keep  all  colonies  in  the  home 
apiary.  When  I  found  out  later  what  was  before  me  I  was 
thankful  that  all  were  in  a  single  apiary.  Diseased  brood  was 
found  to  such  an  extent  and  in  so  many  colonies  that  I  sent  a 
sample  to  Dr.  E.  F.  Phillips  at  Washington.  Back  came  the 
report  that  European  foul  brood  was  the  thing  I  had  to  deal 
with.  I  do  not  know  how  many  colonies  were  diseased  at  the 
opening  of  the  season,  but  I  do  know  that  we  had  been  doing 
our  level  best  to  spread  the  disease  throughout  the  whole  apiary 
by  indiscriminate  exchanging  of  combs  of  brood. 

It  was  fairly  along  in  the  season  when  I  got  the  word  from 
Washington,  and  here  is  what  I  had  to  face:  A  season  of 
dearth,  there  being  a  dead  failure  of  the  early  honey-flow ;  bees 
in  about  150  hives,  counting  nuclei  and  all,  and  only  22  of 
them  that  showed  no  sign  of  disease  throughout  the  whole 
season;  with  a  disease  that  at  that  time  was  said  to  be  ten 
times  worse  than  American  foul  brood.  I  felt  like  giving  up, 
but  for  onty  a  little  while.  If  others  had  fought  the  disease, 
why  couldn’t  I  ?  Besides,  I  could  now  have  some  live  experience 
with  a  thing  I  had  only  previously  read  about. 

I  started  in  to  use  the  McEvoy  treatment,  brushing  the 
diseased  colonies  upon  foundation,  after  doing  some  breaking 


296 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


up  and  doubling.  In  all,  however,  only  56  colonies  were  actually 
brushed  upon  foundation.  When  I  came  to  look  how  they  were 
building  up,  I  found,  out  of  those  first  treated,  that  nine  had 
left,  bag  and  baggage,  leaving  empty  hives.  That  was  probably 
from  starvation,  so  after  that  I  gave  to  each  shaken  colony  one 
or  more  sections  of  honey  taken  from  diseased  colonies.  So  far 
as  I  know,  this  did  not  in  any  case  convey  the  disease.  Later, 
to  make  more  sure  against  desertion,  one  of  the  diseased  combs 
was  left  in  the  hive,  and  beside  it  two  empty  frames — not  even 
a  starter  in  the  two  frames,  and  the  rest  of  the  hive  empty. 
When  the  bees  made  a  start  at  building  in  the  empty  frames, 
the  old  comb  was  taken  away,  and  the  hive  was  filled  up  with 
full  sheets  of  foundation.  Sometimes  the  comb  the  bees  had 
built  in  the  empty  frames  was  taken  away  after  a  good  start 
was  made  on  the  foundation,  and  sometimes  not.  The  outcome 
seemed  to  be  all  right  either  way. 

Partly  to  please  Editor  E.  R.  Root,  toward  the  latter  part 
of  the  summer  I  tried  the  Alexander  treatment.  The  gist  of 
that  treatment  is  to  remove  the  queen  and  in  20  days  give  the 
colony  a  ripe  queen-cell  of  best  Italian  stock,  or  else  a  very 
young  virgin.  Previous  to  the  treatment,  however,  an  impor¬ 
tant  requisite  is  to  make  the  colony  strong. 

I  varied  from  the  regular  treatment  by  giving  hybrid  virgins 
instead  of  Italians,  as  my  bees  were  mostly  hybrids.  It  may 
be  a  question  whether  hybrids  are  not  as  good  as  Italians  in 
carrying  out  the  treatment,  provided  the  hybrids  are  of  equal 
vigor. 

I  made  the  inexcusable  blunder  of  understanding  that  Mr. 
Alexander  had  given  a  laying  queen  at  the  end  of  20  days  of 
queenlessness,  instead  of  giving  a  virgin.  So  I  gave  a  young 
virgin  after  ten  days  of  queenlessness,  so  that  there  would  be 
a  laying  queen  present  in  about  20  days  from  the  removal  of 
the  queen.  I  now  think  that  the  blunder  was  a  fortunate  one, 
since  there  is  a  gain  of  8  or  10  days  in  the  time  of  the  treat¬ 
ment,  always  provided  that  continued  trial  of  the  plan  by 
myself  and  others  should  prove  it  to  be  reliable. 

There  were  some  cases  of  failure,  but  in  each  of  these  cases 
the  colonies  had  not  been  made  very  strong.  Mr.  Alexander 
had  emphasized  the  point  that  in  order  to  have  the  treatment 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


297 


effective  the  colony  must  be  strong,  either  by  uniting  or  giving 
frames  of  sealed  brood.  My  experience  leads  me  to  think  that 
not  only  must  the  colony  be  strong  but  it  must  be  strong  in 
young  bees. 

With  the  opening  of  the  season  of  1910  you  may  well  suppose 
I  was  on  the  alert  to  see  whether  any  colonies  were  diseased. 
In  fact  I  was  really  hoping  there  would  be  some  cases,  for  I 
had  formed  a  theory  and  wanted  to  try  some  experiments.  I 
was  not  disappointed.  In  27  hives  could  be  found  the  distinc¬ 
tive  mark  of  the  disease,  in  some  only  a  cell  or  two,  while  in 
others  as  much  as  one  cell  in  every  ten  was  affected. 

Some  one  may  think  it  a  difficult  thing  to  detect  the  disease 
if  only  one  or  two  bad  cells  are  to  be  found  in  a  hive.  It  is  not 
difficult.  The  healthy  brood  is  pearly  white,  while  the  diseased 
larva  being  distinctly  yellow  is  quickly  spotted,  just  as  you 
would  easily  detect  a  yellow  hen  in  a  flock  of  white  ones.  It 
was  impossible  to  say  how  many  of  the  27  cases  were  old 
offenders  and  how  many  of  them  were  fresh  cases  brought  in 
from  outside;  for  there  were  diseased  colonies  all ’about  me,  and 
there  was  no  law  in  Illinois  to  clean  them  up. 

About  that  theory,  the  theory  as  to  how  the  disease  is 
continued  in  the  hive  and  conveyed  from  one  cell  to  another. 
It  is  well  known  that  if  a  larva  be  broken  open  the  bees  will 
suck  up  its  juices,  and  in  a  case  of  starvation  the  juices  of  the 
larvse  are  consumed  and  the  white  skins  thrown  out  of  the 
hive.  When  a  larva  first  becomes  diseased,  and  has  not  yet 
become  offensive,  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  the  nurse-bees  will 
suck  up  its  juices,  and  then  when  they  feed  healthy  larvse  the 
healthy  larvse  will  become  diseased.  But  in  a  little  while  a  dis¬ 
eased  larva  will  become  decayed  and  offensive,  so  that  it  will  no 
longer  be  eaten  by  the  nurse-bees.  If  this  supposition  be  cor¬ 
rect,  it  will  come  to  pass  that  if  egg-laying  should  stop  for  5  or 
6  days  (the  time  a  larva  remains  unsealed  in  its  cell)  there  will 
no  longer  be  in  the  hive  at  the  same  time  diseased  larvse  fit  for 
the  nurses  to  eat  and  healthy  larvse  to  which  the  diseased  food 
may  be  given,  and  thus  the  disease  should  come  to  an  end. 

It  wras  not  hard  to  make  the  test.  I  caged  the  queen  of  a 
diseased  colony  after  strengthening  it,  and  freed  her  after  six 
days  of  imprisonment.  No  more  diseased  brood  appeared  in 


298 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


the  hive.  Of  course,  one  swallow  does  not  make  a  summer,  and 
this  might  not  work  in  all  cases.  Neither  would  I  in  any  bad 
case  recommend  the  continuance  of  the  old  queen  after  treat¬ 
ment.  A  queen  that  has  been  for  some  time  in  a  foul-broody 
colony  seems  sluggish,  and  is  better  replaced  by  a  vigorous 
young  queen. 

As  between  the  McEvoy  and  the  Alexander — or  the  Alexan- 
der-Miller  treatment  as  it  has  been  called — there  is  so  much  to 
be  gained  in  the  saving  of  combs  that,  even  if  the  first  plan 
always  succeeds  and  the  other  sometimes  fails,  it  may  be  cheaper 
to  use  the  latter  and  treat  over  again  the  failures.  But  I  may 
remark  in  passing  that  among  the  27  cases  of  1910  some  of 
them  were  of  those  that  had  been  brushed  upon  foundation  the 
previous  year. 

With  my  present  knowledge  of  the  disease,  here  is  the 
treatment  that  I  believe  well  worth  trying  for  European  foul 
brood :  Make  the  colony  strong,  preferably  by  giving  sealed 
brood  so  as  to  have  abundance  of  young  bees ;  remove  the  queen 
and  at  the  same  time  give  a  ripe  queen-cell  or  a  very  young 
virgin,  which  cell  or  virgin  shall  be  of  the  most  vigorous  stock, 
and  trust  the  bees  to  do  the  rest. 

In  a  mild  case  I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  take  so  much 
trouble :  merely  keep  the  queen  caged  in  the  hive  for  a  week  or 
ten  days,  and  then  free  her.  In  the  year  1913  about  one  in 
four  of  my  colonies  was  slightly  affected,  and  in  nearly  all 
cases  all  I  did  was  to  cage  the  queen  for  about  eight  days.  The 
fact  that  in  spite  of  the  disease  I  averaged  a  little  more  than 
266  sections  per  colony  from  72  colonies,  spring  count,  shows 
that  good  crops  may  be  obtained  even  where  European  foul 
brood  is  present.  Still,  I  am  sure  I  could  have  done  a  little 
better  without  the  disease. 

In  1914,  five  cases  showed  up  in  the  first  week  of  June  in  91 
colonies.  They  were  all  mild,  and  were  treated  successfully  by 
caging  the  queen. 

Now  please  remember  that  I  do  not  give  this  as  a  treatment 
well  tried  and  thoroughly  reliable.  My  theory  is  only  a  theory, 
and  the  plan  of  treatment  needs  confirmation,  as  the  newspapers 
say.  I  only  say  that  T  think  the  treatment  worth  trying  because 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


299 


it  lias  worked  with  success  so  far;  and  if  it  proves  successful 
with  others  it  will  be  no  small  gain. 

Remember,  too,  that  it  is  European  foul  brood  I  am  talking 
about.  For  American  foul  brood  the  plan  would  be  worthless. 

dripping-pan  wt ax-extractor. 

Before  the  introduction  of  the  solar  wax-extractor,  the  ren¬ 
dering  of  wax  was  generally  reserved  as  winter’s  work,  and 
indeed  after  the  introduction  of  the  solar  it  was  often  conven¬ 
ient  to  work  up  in  winter  some  of  the  material  saved  up.  A 
very  simple  arrangement  on  a  small  scale  did  excellent  work  on 
much  the  same  principle  as  the  solar  extractor,  only  the  heat 
of  the  stove  was  used  in  place  of  solar  heat. 

An  old  dripping-pan  (of  course  a  new  one  would  do),  had 
one  corner  split  open,  and  that  made  the  extractor.  The  drip¬ 
ping-pan  is  put  into  the  oven  of  a  cook-stove  with  the  split 
corner  projecting  out  (Fig.  107).  The  opposite  corner,  the  one 
farthest  in  the  oven,  is  slightly  raised  by  having  a  pebble  or 
something  of  the  kind  under  it,  so  that  the  melted  wax  will  run 
outward.  A  dish  set  under  catches  the  dripping  wax,  making 
the  outfit  complete.  Of  course  the  material  to  be  melted  is  put 
in  the  pan  the  same  as  in  the  solar  extractor. 

SOLAR  WAX-EXTRACTOR. 

I  do  not  know  that  the  solar  extractor  has  any  advantage  over 
the  dripping-pan  arrangement,  except  that  the  sun  furnishes 
free  heat.  In  either  case,  when  old  combs  are  melted  a  good 
deal  of  wax  remains  in  the  refuse  or  slumgum,  because  the 
cocoons  act  much  like  sponges.  Especially  is  this  the  case  if 
more  than  a  single  thickness  of  comb  is  placed  for  melting. 

STEAM  WAX-PRESS. 

So  when  the  German  steam  wax-press  came,  leaving  the 
slumgum  mostly  free  from  wax,  the  solar  extractor  had  to  take 
a  back  seat,  leaving  wax-rendering  again  a  proper  thing  for 
winter  work. 

The  wax-press  is  placed  upon  the  cook-stove  (Fig.  108),  and 
the  work  is  done  according  to  the  instructions  sent  out  with  the 


300 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


machine.  I  find  that  time  is  an  important  element  in  the  work, 
and  that  there  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  trying  to  hurry  up 
matters  by  screwing  down  very  hard.  If  the  screw  be  turned 
down  as  tight  as  can  be  done  without  sliding  the  can  around 
on  the  stove,  that  is  all  that  is  necessary.  Then  when  the  wax 
ceases  to  run  it  can  be  turned  down  again.  Continuing  in  this 
way  till  no  more  wax  runs,  when  the  slumgum  is  turned  out 
(Fig.  109)  it  is  so  free  from  wax  that  it  is  not  worth  working 


Fig.  111. — “ Busy  at  the  Typewriter.” 

over  again.  The  wax  saved  by  using  the  steam  wax-press  will 
pay  immense  interest  on  the  money  invested  in  its  purchase. 

But  the  tendency  to  specializing  has  invaded  the  domain  of 
wax- rendering,  and  now  one  can  send  off  his  old  combs,  cap¬ 
pings,  and  bits  of  wax,  and  have  the  rendering  done  by  special¬ 
ists  without  the  bother  and  muss. 

OTHER  WINTER  WORK. 

The  work  of  getting  sections  ready  for  the  hoped-for  harvest 
of  the  coming  summer  has  already  been  mentioned,  and  the 
winter  affords  opportunity  for  making  up  hives,  supers,  or  any 
fixtures  that  may  be  needed.  As  these  things  are  bought  mostly 
in  the  flat,  the  chief  part  of  the  work  is  nailing,  and  it  is  a 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


301 


great  convenience  to  have  the  different  kinds  of  nails  in  their 
proper  places  ready  for  immediate  use.  A  set  of  nail-boxes, 
part  of  which  are  seen  in  Fig.  110,  serves  the  purpose  excellent¬ 
ly.  The  boxes  are  patterned  somewhat  after  a  tin  nail-box  I 
saw  at  a  tin-shop.  When  a  box  is  taken  from  its  nail  on  the 
wall,  laid  flat  and  slightly  shaken,  the  nails  are  easily  picked 
up  from  the  shallow  part  of  the  box. 

Truth  compels  me  to  say  that  so  many  different  persons  find 
it  convenient  to  use  these  boxes  and  inconvenient  to  return 
them,  that  of  late  the  boxes  are  not  always  found  in  their 
proper  places,  and  when  the  picture  was  taken  they  were 
assembled  for  that  special  occasion. 

Most  of  the  winter  time,  however,  is  occupied  with  reading 
and  writing.  There  are  some  thirty  or  forty  bee- journals  to 
be  read,  and  a  large  part  of  them  are  printed  in  the  German 
and  French  languages.  I  am  a  poor  scholar  in  either  German 
or  French,  so  it  is  not  strange  if  I  sometimes  get  behind  in  my 
reading,  to  bring  up  in  winter.  I  wish  I  could  find  the  time 
to  read  over  again  at  my  leisure  in  winter  all  the  bee-journals 
that  I  read  more  or  less  hurriedly  in  summer.  But  I  never  find 
the  time.  I  used  to  think  that  if  1  ever  lived  to  be  fifty  years 
old  I  would  take  things  very  leisurely.  But  I  am  now  past  fifty, 
and  I  never  was  more  crowded  in  my  life  before. 

WRITING  FOR  THE  BEE- JOURNALS. 

Besides  the  reading,  there  is  the  writing.  Some  extra  writing 
usually  to  be  done  each  winter,  besides  the  regular  work  in  that 
line.  I  have  written  “  Stray  Straws  ”  for  Gleanings  in  Bee 
Culture  ever  since  December,  1890,  and  four  years  later  I  began 
writing  answers  to  questions  in  the  American  Bee  Journal.  The 
thought  of  keeping  up  that  work  year  in  and  year  out,  with 
never  a  vacation,  summer  or  winter,  would  be  somewhat  weari¬ 
some  if  it  were  not  that  I  delight  in  the  work.  If  any  one  of 
my  readers  should  hesitate  about  sending  to  me  any  question 
connected  with  beekeeping  because  of  the  thought  that  it  will 
be  unpleasant  to  me,  let  him  disabuse  his  mind  of  any  such 
thought.  The  receipt  of  such  questions  is  a  real  pleasure. 

One  thing,  however,  that  gives  pain  instead  of  pleasure,  is  to 
find  a  stamp  enclosed  upon  opening  a  letter,  for  then  I  know 


302 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


that  the  writer  expects  an  answer  by  mail,  and,  in  justice  to 
others,  answering  bee-questions  by  mail  is  a  thing  I  cannot  do. 
If  I  should  answer  one  by  mail  I  must  answer  others,  and  the 
only  fair  way  is  to  treat  all  alike.  The  request  for  me  to  answer 
a  question  in  print  will  always  be  cheerfully  complied  with 
without  any  stamp  accompanying  the  request. 

IF  BEGINNING  AGAIN. 

I  am  sometimes  asked  whether,  if  beginning  afresh,  I  would 
take  the  same  course  I  have  already  been  over.  That  is  not  a 
very  easy  question  to  answer.  There  are  some  things  that  can 
be  settled  only  by  experiment,  and  about  such  things  one  cannot 
reply  offhand.  Likely,  if  I  were  beginning  all  over  again  not 
many  things  would  be  different  from  what  they  are.  But  it 
may  .be  worth  while  to  answer  as  well  as  I  can  about  a  few 
things. 

CHOICE  OF  LOCATION. 

If  1  were  to  start  in  afresh,  I  would  take  some  pains  to  select 
a  location  as  favorable  for  beekeeping  as  possible.  I  didn’t 
choose  a  location.  I  just  began  beekeeping  where  I  was,  with 
no  thought  of  doing  any  thing  in  a  commercial  way,  and  grew 
into  the  business.  I  certainly  would  not  start  in  afresh  in  a 
location  with  only  one  principal  honey-plant,  and  that  some¬ 
times  a  failure.  That  was  the  condition  here,  clover  the  only 
dependence  for  a  crop,  and  that  with  too  many  off  years.  Of 
late  years,  however,  the  fall  crop  is  worth  considering. 

HIVE-STANDS. 

I  surely  would  not  start  in  with  such  hive-stands  as  I  now 
have.  The  bottom-board  resting  upon  so  large  a  flat  surface 
makes  a  good  place  for  moisture  to  lodge,  and  favors  rotting 
both  bottom-board  and  stand.  It  also  makes  a  fine  place  for 
the  large  black  ants  to  lodge  and  honeycomb  the  boards.  Some¬ 
thing  would  be  better  that  allows  a  smaller  area  of  contact. 
Tile  or  cement  might  fill  the  bill. 

ITALIAN  BEES. 

Through  years  of  selection  I  secured  hybrids  that  were 
hustlers.  But  they  were  cross.  If  I  had  it  to  do  over  again  I 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


303 


would  look  out  more  for  temper,  and  I  think  I  would  stick  to 
pure  Italian  blood,  even  if  occasionally  a  hybrid  colony  should 
store  most  honey.  If  I  had  persisted  in  breeding  from  pure 
Italian  stock,  I  might  have  had  just  as  good  hustlers,  with  less 
tendency  to  change,  and  with  better  tempers. 

As  already  mentioned,  since  1912  I  have  mainly  Italian  stock 
that  is  excellent,  but  not  as  gentle  as  I  should  like.  If,  from 
the  beginning,  I  had  rigidly  stuck  to  Italians,  I  might  now  have 
bees  of  best  gathering  qualities,  and  by  attending  to  other 
qualities  I  might  now  have  hustlers  beautiful  in  appearance, 
mild  in  temper,  and  little  given  to  swarming. 

EIGHT  VERSUS  TEN  FRAMES. 

I  changed  from  ten-frame  to  eight-frame  hives,  I  think,  more 
than  for  any  other  reason  because  at  that  time  it  was  the 
fashion.  I  do  not  know  that  I  got  any  better  crops  by  changing. 
When  it  comes  to  moving  hives  about,  the  advantage  is  decided¬ 
ly  in  favor  of  the  smaller  hive.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
supers.  I  am  not  sure  the  smaller  hives  have  any  other  advan¬ 
tage,  unless  it  be  that  they  occupy  less  space  and  cost  a  little 
less.  But  the  larger  hive  has  the  great  advantage  that  it  can 
have  a  larger  supply  of  stores  on  hand  at  all  times,  making  less 
danger  of  starvation  in  winter  and  spring.  That  makes  less 
trouble  and  less  anxiety.  An  eight-frame  hive  is  sometimes 
too  small  for  a  queen  without  a  second  story,  where  a  single 
story  with  ten  frames  would  answer.  So  if  it  were  to  do  over 
again,  very  likely  I  might  continue  the  ten-frame  hive. 

EXTRACTED  HONEY  VERSUS  COMB. 

I  have  learned  the  production  of  comb  honey  as  a  trade,  and 
it  would  be  a  good  deal  like  taking  up  an  entirely  different 
business  to  take  up  the  production  of  extracted  honey.  Never¬ 
theless  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  make  more  money  with  comb 
than  with  extracted  honey.  At  one  time  there  was  so  much 
adulteration  of  extracted  honey  that  the  price  of  the  genuine 
article  was  affected  thereby.  Pure-food  laws  have  changed  that, 
so  that  comb  honey  has  no  longer  that  advantage. 

There  is  another  matter  that  deserves  serious  consideration. 
If  I  were  running  for  extracted  honey  I  would  undoubtedly 


304 


FIFTY  YEaRS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


produce  more  honey  than  by  running  for  comb  honey.  If  more 
honey  is  produced,  more  of  it  will  be  consumed,  and  I  believe 
increased  consumption  of  honey  would  be  a  fine  thing  for  the 
health  of  the  nation.  So  if  I  were  broad-minded  enough,  very 
likely  I  would  start  in  again  as  an  extracted-honey  man. 

Indeed,  it  is  true  that  in  1913  I  returned  to  the  extractor 
sufficiently  to  extract  several  hundred  pounds,  and  it  is  not 
impossible  that  I  may  do  still  more  in  that  line. 

“  office/-’ 

Possibly  some  one  of  my  readers  might  desire  a  picture  of 
the  office  in  which  I  do  my  work.  That  would  take  a  number 
of  pictures.  According  to  circumstances,  my  office  may  be  on 
the  back  porch  seen  in  Fig.  1,  or  it  may  be  in  any  one  of  nine 
different  rooms  inside.  A  look  at  the  furnishings  in  Fig.  Ill 
will  show  that  it  is  no  serious  undertaking  to  move  my  “  office  ” 
whenever  desired.  I  never  like  to  be  far  from  the  rest  of  the 
family,  and  when  at  work  I  enjoy  the  sound  of  their  voices, 
even  though  I  may  pay  no  attention  to  what  they  are  saying. 
They  are  generally  quite  considerate  in  refraining  from  inter¬ 
rupting  my  work  by  remarks  directed  personally  to  me,  but 
sometimes  they  forget. 

I  count  myself  singularly  blessed  in  having  a  home  where 
all  the  members  of  the  family  are  so  united  in  their  tastes  and 
enjoyments.  One  of  our  chief  earthly  pleasures  is  the  love  of 
flowers.  At  our  quiet  country  home  we  have  room  unlimited 
for  producing  summer  roses  by  the  bushel,  and  the  bay  window 
of  the  sitting-room  brightens  the  days  of  winter  with  its  bright 
colors  and  luxuriant  green.  If  you  were  here,  I  am  sure  you 
would  enjoy  a  sight  of  that  window,  and  then  I  would  take 
pride  in  displaying  to  you  my  set  of  china  honey-dishes  shown 
in  the  last  picture  in  the  book.  Thej^  were  painted  by  my  sister, 
each  dish  showing  a  separate  honey-plant,  one-half  the  dish 
being  covered  by  a  honeycomb. 

I  desire  to  record  my  deep  gratitude  to  a  loving  Heavenly 
Father  for  giving  me  so  busy  and  happy  a  life;  and  for  you, 
dear  reader,  I  can  hardly  express  a  better  wish  than  that  your 
life  may  be  as.  happy,  if  not  as  busy,  as  mine. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


305 


Some  years  ago,  at  the  instigation  of  Editor  E.  R.  Root,  I  wrote  a  honey 
leaflet  which  has  been  circulated  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  It  has  been 
thought  well  that  it  should  be  reproduced  in  more  permanent  form  by  having 
a  place  in  the  present  work,  and  here  follows: 

HONEY  AS  A  WHOLESOME  FOOD. 

About  SO  pounds  of  sugar  on  the  average  is  annually  consumed  by  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  United  States.  Of  course,  many  use  less  than 
the  average,  but  to  make  up  for  it  some  consume  several  times  as  much. 
It  is  only  within  the  last  few  centuries  that  sugar  has  become  known,  and 
only  within  the  last  generation  that  refined  sugars  have  become  so  low  in 
price  that  they  may  be  commonly  used  in  the  poorest  families.  Formerly 
honey  was  the  principal  sweet,  and  it  was  one  of  the  items  sent  as  a 
propitiatory  offering  by  Jacob  to  his  unrecognized  son,  the  chief  ruler  of 
Egypt,  3000  years  before  the  first  sugar-refinery  was  built. 

It  would  be  greatly  for  the  health  of  the  present  generation  if  honey  could 
be  at  least  partially  restored  to  its  former  place  as  a  common  article  of  diet. 
The  almost  universal  craving  for  sweets  of  some  kind  shows  a  real  need  of 
the  system  in  that  direction,  but  the  excessive  use  of  sugar  brings  in  its  train 
a  long  list  of  ills.  Besides  the  various  disorders  of  the  alimentary  canal, 
fatal  disease  of  the  kidneys  is  credited  with  being  one  of  the  results  of 
sugar-eating.  When  cane  sugar  is  taken  into  the  stomach,  it  cannot  be 
assimilated  until  first  changed  by  digestion  into  grape-sugar.  Only  too  often 
the  over-taxed  stomach  fails  to  perform  this  digestion  properly,  then  comes 
sour  stomach  and  various  dyspeptic  phases.  Prof.  A.  J.  Cook  says : 

“  If  cane-sugar  is  absorbed  without  change,  it  will  be  removed  by  the 
kidneys,  and  may  result  in  their  break-down;  and  physicians  may  be  correct 
in  asserting  that  the  large  consumption  of  cane-sugar  by  the  twentieth- 
century  man  is  harmful  to  the  great  eliminators — the  kidneys — and  so  a 
menace  to  health  and  long  life.” 

Now,  in  the  wonderful  laboratory  of  the  bee-hive  there  is  found  a  sweet 
that  needs  no  further  digestion,  having  been  prepared  fully  by  those  wonder¬ 
ful  chemists — the  bees — for  prompt  assimilation  without  taxing  stomach  or 
kidneys.  As  Prof.  Cook  says:  “There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  in  eating 
honey  our  digestive  machinery  is  saved  work  that  it  would  have  to  perform 
if  we  ate  cane-sugar;  and  in  case  it  is  over-taxed  and  feeble,  this  may  be 
just  the  respite  that  will  save  from  a  break-down.” 

A.  I.  Root  says:  “Many  people  who  cannot  eat  sugar  without  having 
unpleasant  symptoms  follow,  will  find  by  careful  test  that  they  can  eat 
good,  well-ripened  honey  without  any  difficulty  at  all.” 


HONEY  THE  MOST  DELICIOUS  SAUCE 


306 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


more  tempting  dish  can  grace  the  table  at  the  most  lavish  banquet  ;  and  yet 
its  cost  is  so  moderate  that  it  may  well  find  its  place  on  the  tables  of  the 
common  people  every  day  in  the  week. 

IT  IS  ECONOMY  TO  USE  HONEY. 

Indeed,  in  many  cases  it  may  be  a  matter  of  real  economy  to  lessen  the 
butter-bill  by  letting  honey  in  part  take  its  place.  A  pound  of  honey  will 
go  about  as  far  as  a  pound  of  butter ;  and  if  both  articles  be  of  the  best 
quality  the  honey  will  cost  the  less  of  the  two.  Often  a  prime  article  of 
extracted  honey  (equal  to  comb  honey  in  every  respect  except  appearance) 
can  be  obtained  for  about  half  the  price  of  butter.  Butter  is  at  its  best 
only  when  “  fresh,”  while  honey,  properly  kept,  remains  indefinitely  good — 
no  need  to  hurry  it  out  of  the  way  for  fear  it  may  become  rancid. 

GIVE  CHILDREN  HONEY. 

Prof.  Cook  says:  “We  all  know  how  children  long  for  candy.  This 
longing  voices  a  need,  and  is  another  evidence  of  the  necessity  of  sugar  in 
our  diet.  .  .  .  Children  should  be  given  all  the  honey  at  each  meal-time 
that  they  will  eat.  It  is  safer,  will  largely  do  away  with  the  inordinate 
longing  for  candy  and  other  sweets ;  and  in  lessening  the  desire  will  doubt¬ 
less  diminish  the  amount  of  cane-sugar  eaten.  Then  if  cane-sugar  does  work 
mischief  with  health,  the  harm  may  be  prevented.” 

Ask  the  average  child  whether  he  will  have  honey  alone  on  his  bread 
or  butter  alone,  and  almost  invariably  he  will  promptly  answer,  “  Honey.” 
Yet  seldom  are  the  needs  or  the  tastes  of  the  child  properly  consulted-.  The 
old  man  craves  fat  meat;  the  child  loathes  it.  He  wants  sweet,  not  fat. 
He  delights  to  eat  honey ;  it  is  a  wholesome  food  for  him,  and  is  not  expen¬ 
sive.  Why  should  he  not  have  it? 

HONEY  BEST  TO  SWEETEN  HOT  DRINKS. 

Sugar  is  much  used  in  hot  drinks,  as  in  coffee  and  tea.  The  substitu¬ 
tion  of  a  mild-flavored  honey  in  such  uses  may  be  a  very  profitable  thing 
for  the  health.  Indeed,  it  would  be  better  for  the  health  if  the  only  hot 
drink  were  what  is  called  in  Germany  “  honey-tea  ” — a  cup  of  hot  water 
with  one  or  two  tablespoonfuls  of  extracted  honey.  The  attainment  of  great 
age  has  in  some  cases  been  attributed  largely  to  the  lifelong  use  of  honey-tea. 

COMB  AND  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 

At  the  present  day  honey  is  placed  on  the  market  in  two  forms — in 
the  comb  and  extracted.  “  Strained  ”  honey,  obtained  by  mashing  or  melting 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


307 


DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  FLAVORS. 

Many  people  think  “honey  is  honey” — all  just  alike;  but  this  is  a 
great  mistake.  Honey  may  be  of  good,  heavy  body — what  beekeepers  call 
“  well-ripened  ” — weighing  generally  twelve  pounds  to  the  gallon,  or  it  may 
be  quite  thin.  It  may  also  be  granulated,  or  candied,  more  solid  than  lard. 
It  may  be  almost  as  colorless  as  water,  and  it  may  be  as  black  as  the 
darkest  molasses.  The  flavor  of  honey  varies  according  to  the  flower  from 
which  it  is  obtained.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  in  words  the  flavors 
of  the  different  honeys.  You  may  easily  distinguish  the  odor  of  a  rose  from 
that  of  a  carnation,  but  you  might  find  it  difficult  to  describe  them  in  words 
so  that  a  novice  smelling  them  for  the  first  time  could  tell  which  was  which. 
But  the  different  flavors  in  honey  are  just  as  distinct  as  the  odors  in 
flowers.  Among  the  light-colored  honeys  are  white  clover,  linden  (or  bass¬ 
wood),  sage,  sweet  clover,  alfalfa,  willow-herb,  etc.,  and  among  the  darker 
are  found  heartsease,  magnolia  (or  poplar),  horsemint,  buckwheat,  etc. 

ADULTERATION  OF  HONEY. 

In  these  days  of  prevailing  adulteration,  when  so  often  “  things  are 
not  what  they  seem,”  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  strictly  pure  honey,  both 
extracted  and  comb,  can  still  be  had  and  at  a  reasonable  price.  The  silly 
stories  seen  from  time  to  time  in  the  papers  about  artificial  combs  being 
filled  with  glucose,  and  deftly  sealed  over  with  a  hot  iron,  have  not  the 
slightest  foundation  in  fact.  For  years  there  has  been  a  standing  offer  by 
one  whose  financial  responsibility  is  unquestioned  of  $1000  for  a  single 
pound  of  comb  honey  made  without  the  intervention  of  bees.  The  offer 
remains  untaken,  and  will  probably  always  remain  so,  for  the  highest  art 
of  man  can  never  compass  such  delicate  workmanship  as  the  skill  of  the 
bee  accomplishes. 

Extracted  honey, however,  is  not  incapable  of  imitation.  Time  was  when 
a  tumbler  on  a  grocer’s  shelf  labeled  honey  might  contain  honey,  and  it 
might  contain  glucose.  If  you  were  well  enough  acquainted  with  honey  you 
might  tell  the  difference  by  the  taste;  otherwise  you  had  to  trust  to  the 
honesty  of  the  grocer.  Always,  however,  you  could  be  sure  of  the  genuine 
article  by  getting  it  from  the  beekeeper  himself.  But  the  pure-food  laws 
have  changed  all  that,  and  nowadays  you  may  trust  that  the  label  correctly 
represents  what  is  under  it. 

CARE  OF  HONEY - WHERE  TO  KEEP  IT. 

The  average  housekeeper  will  put  honey  in  the  cellar  for  safe  keeping 
— about  the  worst  place  possible.  Honey  readily  attracts  moisture,  and  in 
the  cellar  extracted  honey  will  become  thin,  and  in  time  may  sour ;  and  with 
comb  honey  the  case  is  still  worse,  for  the  appearance  as  well  as  the  quality 
is  changed.  The  beautiful  white  surface  becomes  watery  and  darkened, 
drops  of  water  ooze  through  the  cappings,  and  weep  over  the  surface.  In¬ 
stead  of  keeping  honey  in  a  place  moist  and  cool,  keep  it  dry  and  warm, 
even  hot.  It  will  not  hurt  to  be  in  a  temperature  of  even  100  degrees. 
Where  salt  will  keep  dry  is  a  good  place  for  honey.  Few  places  are  better 
than  the  kitchen  cupboard.  Up  in  a  hot  garret  next  the  roof  is  a  good  place, 


308 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


and  if  it  has  had  enough  hot  days  there  through  the  summer,  it  will  stand 
the  freezing  of  winter;  for  under  ordinary  circumstances  freezing  cracks  the 
combs,  and  hastens  granulation  or  candying. 

GRANULATED  HONEV - TO  RELIQUEFY. 

When  honey  is  kept  for  any  length  of  time  it  has  a  tendency  to  change 
from  its  clear  liquid  condition,  and  becomes  granulated  or  candied.  This  is 
not  to  be  taken  as  any  evidence  against  its  genuineness,  but  rather  the 
contrary.  Some  prefer  it  in  the  candied  state,  but  the  majority  prefer  it 
liquid.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  restore  it  to  its  former  liquid  condition. 
Simply  keep  it  in  hot  water  long  enough,  but  not  too  hot.  If  heated  above 
160  degrees  there  is  danger  of  spoiling  the  color  and  ruining  the  flavor. 
Remember  that  honey  contains  the  most  delicate  of  all  flavors — that  of  the 
flowers  from  which  it  is  taken.  A  good  way  is  to  set  the  vessel  containing 
the  honey  inside  another  vessel  containing  hot  water,  not  allowing  the 
bottom  of  the  one  to  rest  directly  on  the  bottom  of  the  other,  but  putting  a 
bit  of  wood  or  something  of  the  kind  between.  Let  it  stand  on  the  stove, 
but  do  not  let  the  water  boil.  It  may  take  half  a  day  or  longer  to  melt  the 
honey.  If  the  honey  is  set  directly  on  the  reservoir  of  a  cook-stove,  it  will 
be  all  right  in  a  few  days.  In  time  it  will  granulate  again,  when  it  must 
again  be  melted. 


HONEY-COOKING  RECIPES. 

Honey-Gems. — Two  quarts  flour,  3  tablespoonfuls  melted  lard,  %  pint 
honey,  x/2  pint  of  molasses,  4  heaping  tahlespoonfuls  brown  sugar,  1  y2  level 
tablespoonfuls  soda,  1  level  teaspoonful  salt,  1/3  pint  water,  y2  teaspoonful 
extract  vanilla. 

Honey  Jumbles. — Two  quarts  flour,  3  tablespoonfuls  melted  lard,  1 
pint  honey,  XA  pint  molasses,  1 x/2  level  tablespoonfuls  soda,  1  level  tea¬ 
spoonful  salt,  XA  pint  water,  x/2  teaspoonful  vanilla. 

The  jumbles  and  the  gems  immediately  preceding  are  from  recipes 
used  by  bakers  and  confectioners  on  a  large  scale,  one  firm  in  Wisconsin 
alone  using  ten  tons  of  honey  annually  in  their  manufacture. 

Aikin’s  Honey  Cookies. — One  teacupful  extracted  honey,  1  pint  sour 
cream,  scant  teaspoonful  soda,  flavoring  if  desired,  flour  to  make  a  soft 
dough. 

Soft  Honey  Cake. — One  cup  butter,  2  cups  honey,  2  eggs,  1  cup  sour 
milk,  2  teaspoonfuls  soda,  1  teaspoonful  ginger,  1  teaspoonful  cinnamon,  4 
cups  flour. — Ghalon  Fowls-. 

Ginger  Honey  Cake. — One  cup  honey,  y2  cup  butter,  or  drippings,  1 
tablespoonful  boiled  cider,  in  half  a  cup  of  hot  water  (or  x/2  cup  sour 
milk  will  do  instead).  Warm  these  ingredients  together,  and  then  add  1 
tablespoonful  ginger  and  1  teaspoonful  soda  sifted  in  with  flour  enough  to 
make  a  soft  batter.  Bake  in  a  flat  pan. — Ghalon  Fowls. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


309 


O Berlin  Honey  Fruit-Cake. — Half  cup  butter,  %  cup  honey,  1-3  cup 
apple  jelly  or  boiled  cider,  2  eggs  well  beaten,  1  teaspoonful  soda,  1  tea¬ 
spoonful  each  of  cinnamon,  cloves,  and  nutmeg,  1  teacupful  each  of  raisins 
and  dried  currants.  Warm  the  butter,  honey,  and  apple  jelly  slightly;  add 
the  beaten  eggs,  then  the  soda  dissolved  in  a  little  warm  water ;  add  spices 
and  flour  enough  to  make  a  stiff  batter,  then  stir  in  the  fruit  and  bake  in  a 
slow  oven.  Keep  in  a  covered  jar  several  weeks  before  using. 

Honey  Popcorn  Balls. — Take  i  pint  extracted  honey;  put  it  into  an 
iron  frying-pan,  and  boil  until  very  thick ;  then  stir  in  freshly  popped  corn, 
and  when  cool  mold  into  balls.  These  will  especially  delight  the  children. 

Honey  Shortcake. — Three  cups  flour,  2  teaspoonfuls  baking-powder,  1 
teaspoonful  salt,  V2  cup  shortening,  l1/*.  cups  sweet  milk.  Roll  quickly,  and 
bake  in  a  hot  oven.  When  done,  split  the  cake  and  spread  the  lower  half 
thinly  with  butter,  and  the  upper  half  with  %  pound  of  the  best-flavored 
honey.  (Candied  honey  is  preferred.  If  too  hard  to  spread  well  it  should 
be  warmed  or  creamed  with  a  knife.)  Let  it  stand  a  few  minutes,  and  the 
honey  will  melt  gradually,  and  the  flavor  will  permeate  all  through  the  cake. 
To  be  eaten  with  milk. 

Oberlin  Honey  Layer  Cake. — Twodhirds  cup  butter,  1  cup  honey,  3 
eggs  beaten,  %  cup  milk.  Cream  the  butter  and  honey  together,  then  add 
the  eggs  and  milk.  Then  add  2  cups  of  flour  containing  l1^  teaspoonfuls 
baking-powder  previously  stirred  in.  Then  stir  in  flour  to  make  a  stiff 
batter.  Bake  in  jelly-tins'.  When  the  cakes  are  cold,  take  finely  flavored 
candied  honey,  and,  after  creaming-  it,  spread  between  the  layers. 

Honey  Nut-Cakes. — Eight  cups  sugar,  2  cups  honey,  4  cups  milk  or 
water,  1  pound  almonds,  1  pound  English  walnuts,  3  cents’  worth  each  of 
candied  lemon  and  orange  peel,  5  cents’  worth  citron  (the  last  three  cut 
fine),  2  large  tablespoonfuls  soda,  2  teaspoonfuls  cinnamon,  2  teaspoonfuls 
ground  cloves.  Put  the  milk,  sugar,  and  honey  on  the  stove  to  boil  15 
minutes ;  skim  off  the  scum,  and  take  from  the  stove.  Put  in  the  nuts, 
spices,  and  candied  fruit.  Stir  in  as  much  flour  as  can  be  done  with  a 
spoon.  Set  away  to  cool,  then  mix  in  the  soda  (don’t  make  the  dough  too 
stilt).  Cover  up  and  let  stand  over  night,  Ihen  work  in  enough  flour  to 
make  a  stiff  dough.  Bake  when  you  get  ready.  It  is  well  to  let  it  stand  a 
few  days,  as  it  will  not  stick  so  badly.  Roll  out  a  little  thicker  than  a 
common  cooky,  cut  in  any  shape  you  like. 

This  recipe  originated  in  Germany,  is  old  and  tried,  and  the  cake  will 
keep  a  year  or  more. — Mrs.  E.  Smith. 

Mutkos  Honey  Cakes.— One  gallon  honey  (dark  honey  best),  15  eggs, 
3  pounds  sugar  (a  little  more  honey  in  its  place  may  be  better),  lx/z  oz. 
baking-soda,  2  oz.  ammonia,  2  lbs.  almonds  chopped  up,  2  lbs.  citron,  4  oz. 
cinnamon,  2  oz.  cloves,  2  oz.  mace,  18  lbs.  flour.  Let  the  honey  come  almost 
to  a  boil;  then  let  it  cool  and  add  the  other  ingredients.  Cut  out  and  bake. 
The  cakes  are  to  be  frosted  afterward  with  sugar  and  white  of  eggs. 


310 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Oberlin  Honey  Cookies. — Three  teaspoonfuls  soda  dissolved  in  2  cups 
warm  honey,  1  cup  shortening  containing  salt,  2  teaspoonfuls  ginger,  1  cup 
hot  water,  flour  sufficient  to  roll. 

Honey  Tea  Cake. — One  cup  honey,  V2  cup  sour  cream,  2  eggs,  ^  cup 
butter,  2  cups  flour,  scant  V2  teaspoonful  soda,  1  teaspoonful  cream-of- 
tartar.  Bake  30  minutes  in  a  moderate  oven. — Miss  M.  Candler. 

Honey  Ginger-snaps. — One  pint  honey,  %  lb.  butter,  2  teaspoonfuls 
ginger.  Boil  together  a  few  minutes,  and  when  nearly  cold  put  in  flour 
until  it  is  stiff.  Roll  out  thin,  and  bake  quickly. 

Honey  Caramels. —  1  cup  extracted  honey  of  best  flavor,  1  cup  gran¬ 
ulated  sugar,  3  tablespoonfuls  sweet  cream  or  milk.  Boil  to  “  soft  crack,” 
or  until  it  hardens  when  dropped  into  cold  water,  but  not  too  brittle — just 
so  it  will  form  into  a  soft  ball  when  taken  in  the  fingers.  Pour  into  a 
greased  dish,  stirring  in  a  teaspoonful  extract  of  vanilla  just  before  taking 
off.  Let  it  be  V2  or  %  inch  deep  in  the  dish ;  and  as  it  cools,  cut  in  squares 
and  wrap  each  square  in  paraffine  paper,  such  as  grocers  wrap  butter  in. 
To  make  chocolate  caramels,  add  to  the  foregoing  1  tablespoonful  melted 
chocolate,  just  before  taking  off  the  stove,  stirring  it  in  well.  For  chocolate 
caramels  it  is  not  so  important  that  the  honey  be  of  the  best  quality. — C.  C. 
Miller. 

Honey  Grape  Jelly. — Stew  the  grapes  until  soft;  mash  and  strain 
them  through  cheese-cloth,  and  to  each  quart  of  juice  add  one  quart  of 
honey,  and  boil  it  until  it  is  thick  enough  to  suit.  Keep  trying  by  dipping- 
out  a  spoonful  and  cooling  it.  If  you  get  it  too  thick  it  will  candy.  Any 
other  fruit  juice  treat  just  the  same. 

Moore’s  Honey  Ginger-snaps. — One  pint  of  honey,  one  teaspoonful 
of  ginger,  and  one  teaspoonful  of  soda  dissolved  in  a  little  water,  and  two 
eggs.  Mix  all,  then  work  in  all  the  flour  possible,  roll  very  thin,  and  bake 
in  a  moderately  hot  oven.  Any  flavoring  extracts  can  be  added,  as  you 
may  wish. 

Moore’s  Honey'  Jumbles  or  Cookies  are  made  in  the  same  way  as  the 
above,  without  any  sugar  or  syrup,  but  add  some  shortening.  In  using 
honey  for  any  kind  of  cakes,  the  dough  must  be  as  stiff  with  flour  as  pos¬ 
sible,  to  keep  them  from  running  out  of  the  stove. 

To  Spice  Apples,  Pears,  or  Peaches. — One  quart  of  best  vinegar,  1 
quart  of  honey,  V2  ounce  each  of  cloves  and  stick  cinnamon.  Boil  all 
together  15  minutes,  then  put  in  the  fruit,  and  cook  tender.  Put  in  a  stone 
jar  with  enough  of  the  syrup  to  cover  the  fruit.  It  will  keep  as  long  as 
wanted. 

For  Sugar-curing  100  Pounls  op  Meat. — Eight  pounds  of  salt,  1 
quart  of  honey,  2  ounces  of  saltpeter,  and  3  gallons  of  water.  Mix,  and 
boil  until  dissolved,  then  pour  it  hot  on  the  meat. 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


311 


Mrs.  Barber’s  Honey  Candy. — One  quart  honey,  1  small  teacup  of 
granulated  sugar,  butter  size  of  an  egg,  2  tablespoonfuls  strong  vinegar. 
Boil  until  it  will  harden  when  dropped  into  cold  water,  then  stir  in  a  small 
teaspoonful  of  baking-soda.  Pour  into  buttered  plates  to  cool.  Without  the 
vinegar  and  soda  it  can  be  pulled  or  worked  a  long  time,  and  is  just  the 
thing  for  an  old-fashioned  candy-pull,  as  it  is  not  sticky,  and  yet  is  soft 
enough  to  pull  nicely. 

Scripture  Honey  Cake. — One  cupful  of  butter — Judges  v.  25;  3^ 
cupfuls  of  flour — I  Kings  iv.  22;  2  cupfuls  of  sugar — Jeremiah  vi.  20;  2 
cupfuls  of  raisins — I  Samuel  xxx.  12 ;  2  cupfuls  of  figs — I  Samuel  xxx.  12 ; 
1  cupful  of  water — Genesis  xxiv.  17 ;  1  cupful  of  almonds — Genesis  xliii. 
11;  little  salt — Leviticus  ii.  13;  6  eggs — Isaiah  x.  14;  large  spoonful  of 
honey — Exodus  xvi.  31;  sweet  spices  to  taste — I  Kings  x.  2. 

Follow  Solomon’s  advice  for  making  good  boys,  and  you  will  have  a  good 
cake — Prov.  xxiii.  14.  Sift  two  teaspoonfuls  of  baking-powder  in  the  flour ; 
pour  boiling  water  on  the  almonds  to  remove  the  skins;  seed  the  raisins  and 
chop  the  figs.  It  makes  one  large  or  two  small  cakes. 

Mrs.  Barber’s  Honey  Cookies. — One  large  teacupful  of  honey.  One 
egg  broken  into  the  cup  the  honey  was  measured  in,  then  2  large  spoonfuls 
sour  milk,  and  fill  the  cup  with  butter  or  good  beef  dripping.  Put  in  one 
teaspoonful  of  soda  and  flour  to  make  a  soft  dough.  Bake  in  a  moderate 
oven  a  light  brown. 

Gotham  Honey  Ginger  Cake. — Rub  %  of  a  pound  of  butter  into  a 
pound  of  sifted  flour ;  add  a  teacupful  of  brown  sugar,  2  tablespoonfuls  each 
of  ground  ginger  and  caraway  seed.  Beat  5  eggs,  and  stir  in  the  mixture, 
alternately,  with  a  pint  of  extracted  honey.  Beat  all  together  until  very 
light.  Turn  into  a  shallow  square  pan,  and  set  in  a  moderate  oven  to  bake 
for  one  hour.  When  done,  let  cool  and  cut  into  squares. 

Mrs.  Aikin’s  Honey  Apple-butter. — One  gallon  good  cooking  apples, 
1  quart  honey,  1  quart  honey-vinegar,  1  heaping  teaspoonful  ground  cin¬ 
namon.  Cook  several  hours,  stirring  often  to  prevent  burning.  If  the 
vinegar  is  very  strong,  use  part  water. 

Howell’s  Hard  Honey  Cake. — Take  6  pounds  of  flour,  3  pounds 
honey,  1 x/2  pounds  of  sugar,  1 V2  pounds  butter,  6  eggs,  V2  ounce  saleratus ; 
ginger  to  your  taste.  Have  the  flour  in  a  pan  or  tray.  Pack  a  cavity  in 
the  center.  Beat  the  honey  and  yolks  of  eggs  together  well.  Beat  the 
butter  and  sugar  to  cream,  and  put  into  the  cavity  in  the  flour ;  then  add 
the  honey  and  yolks  of  the  eggs.  Mix  well  with  the  hand,  adding  a  little 
at  a  time,  during  the  mixing,  the  %  ounce  of  saleratus  dissolved  in  boiling 
water  until  it  is  all  in.  Add  the  ginger,  and  finally  add  the  whites  of  the 
6  eggs,  well  beaten.  Mix  well  with  the  hand  to  a  smooth  dough.  Divide 
the  dough  into  7  equal  parts,  and  roll  out  like  gingerbread.  Bake  in  ordi¬ 
nary  square  pans  made  for  pies,  from  10  x  14-inch  tin.  After  putting  into 
the  pans,  mark  off  the  top  in  *4 -inch  strips  with  something  sharp.  Bake 


312 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


an  hour  in  a  moderate  o>ven.  Be  careful  not  to  burn,  but  bake  well.  Dis¬ 
solve  sugar  to  glaze  over  top  of  cake.  To  keep  the  cake,  stand  on  end  in  an 
oak  tub,  tin  can,  or  stone  crock — crock  is  best.  Stand  the  cards  up  so  the 
flat  sides  will  not  touch  each  other.  Cover  tight.  Keep  in  a  cool,  dry  place. 
Don’t  use  until  three  months  old,  at  least.  The  cake  improves  with  age, 
and  will  keep  good  as  long  as  you  will  let  it.  Any  cake  sweetened  with 
honey  does  not  dry  out  like  sugar  or  molasses  cake,  and  age  improves  or 
develops  the  honey-flavor.  This  recipe  has  been  used  with  unvarying  success 
and  satisfaction  for  100  years  in  the  family  that  reports.  A  year’s  supply 
of  this  cake  can  be  made  up  at  one  time,  if  desired. 

Maria  Fraser’s  Honey  Jumbles. — Two  cups  honey,  1  cup  butter,  4 
eggs  (mix  well),  1  cup  buttermilk  (mix),  1  good  quart  of  flour,  1  level 
teaspoonful  soda  or  saleratus.  If  it  is  too  thin,  stir  in  a  little  more  flour. 
If  too  thin  it  will  fall.  It  does  not  want  to  be  as  thin  as  sugar-cake.  Use 
very  thick  honey.  Be  sure  to  use  the  same  cup  for  measure,  and  to  mix 
the  honey,  eggs,  and  butter  well  together. 

Honey  Fruit  Cake. — Take  1%  cups  of  honey,  2-3  cup  of  butter,  % 
cup  of  sweet  milk,  3  eggs  well  beaten,  3  cups  of  flour,  2  teaspoonfuls  of 
baking-powder,  2  cups  raisins,  1  teaspoonful  each  of  cloves  and  cinnamon, 

Honey  Ginger-snaps. — One  pint  honey,  %  pound  of  butter,  2  tea¬ 
spoonfuls  of  ginger,  boil  together  a  few  minutes,  and  when  nearly  cold  put 
in  flour  until  it  is  stiff,  roll  out  thinly  and  bake  quickly. 

Mrs.  Minnick's  Soft  Honey  Cake. — Put  scant  teaspoonful  soda  in 
teacup,  pour  5  tablespoonfuls  hot  water  on  the  soda ;  then  fill  the  cup  with 
extracted  honey.  Take  Vz  cup  of  butter  and  1  egg  and  beat  together;  add 
2  cups  of  flour  and  1  teaspoonful  of  ginger;  stir  all  together,  and  bake  in 
a  very  slow  oven. 

Honey  Cake. — One  quart  of  extracted  honey,  Y2  pint  sugar,  Y2  pint 
melted  butter,  1  teaspoonful  soda  dissolved  in  %  teacup  warm  water,  % 
of  a  nutmeg  and  1  teaspoonful  of  ginger.  Mix  these  ingredients,  and  then 
work  in  flour  and  roll.  Cut  in  thin  cakes  and  bake  on  buttered  tins  in  a 
qfuick  oven. 


REMEDIES  USING  HONEY 

Honey  and  Tar  Cough  Cure. — Put  1  tablespoonful  liquid  tar  into  a 
shallow  tin  dish,  and  place  it  in  boiling  water  until  the  tar  is  hot.  To  this 
add  a  pint  of  extracted  honey,  and  stir  well  for  half  an  hour,  adding  to  it 
a  level  teaspoonful  pulverized  borax.  Keep  well  corked  in  a  bottle.  Dose, 
1  teaspoonful  every  one,  two,  or  three  hours,  according  to  severity  of  cough. 

Honey  as  a  Tape-worm  Remedy. — Peeled  pumpkin  seeds,  3  ounces; 
fioney,  2  oupces;  water,  8  ounces.  Make  an  emulsion.  Take  half,  fasting, 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


313 


in  the  morning,  remaining  half  an  hour  later.  In  three  hours’  time  two 
ounces  castor-oil  should  be  administered.  Used  with  great  success. — Medi¬ 
cal  Brief. 

Honey  for  Erysipelas  is  used  locally  by  spreading  it  on  a  suitable 
cloth  and  applying  to  the  parts.  The  application  is  renewed  every  3  or  4 
hours.  In  all  cases  in  which  the  remedy  has  been  employed,  entire  relief 
from  the  pain  followed  immediately,  and  convalescence  was  brought  about 
in  3  or  4  days. 

Honey  for  Dyspepsia. — A  young  man  who  was  troubled  with  dyspep¬ 
sia,  and  the  more  medicine  he  took  the  worse  he  became,  was  advised  to  try 
honey  and  graham  gems  for  breakfast.  He  did  so,  and  commenced  to  gain, 
and  now  enjoys  as  good  health  as  the  average  man,  and  he  does  not  take 
medicine,  either.  Honey  is  the  only  food  taken  into  the  stomach  that  leaves 
no  residue;  it  requires  no  action  of  the  stomach  whatever  to  digest  it,  as  it 
is  merely  absorbed  and  taken  up  into  the  system  by  the  action  of  the  blood. 
Honey  is  the  natural  foe  to  dyspepsia  and  indigestion,  as  well  as  a  food 
for  the  human  system. 

Honey  for  Old  People’s  Coughs. — Old  people’s  coughs  are  as  dis¬ 
tinct  as  that  of  children,  and  require  remedies  especially  adapted  to  them. 
It  is  known  by  the  constant  tickling  in  the  pit  of  the  throat — just  where 
the  Adam’s  apple  projects — and  is  caused  by  phlegm  that  accumulates  there, 
which,  in  their  weakened  condition,  they  are  unable  to  expectorate. 

Take  a  fair-sized  onion — a  good  strong  one — and  let  it  simmer  in  a 
quart  of  honey  for  several  hours,  after  which  strain  and  take  a  teaspoonful 
frequently.  It  eases  the  cough  wonderfully,  though  it  may  not  cure. 

Honey  for  Stomach  Cough. — All  mothers  know  what  a  stomach 
cough  is — caused  by  an  irritation  of  that  organ,  frequently  attended  with 
indigestion.  The  child  often  “  throws  up  ”  after  coughing. 

Dig  down  to  the  roots  of  a  wild-cherry  tree,  and  peel  off  a  handful  oi 
the  bark,  put  it  into  a  pint  of  water,  and  boil  down  to  a  teacupful.  Put  this 
tea  into  a  quart  of  honey,  and  give  a  teaspoonful  every  hour  or  two.  It  is 
pleasant,  and  if  the  child  should  also  have  worms,  which  often  happens,  they 
are  pretty  apt  to  be  disposed  of,  as  they  have  no  love  for  the  wild-cherry 
flavor. 

Hone  y  and  Tar  Cough  Candy. — Boil  a  double  handful  of  green  hoar- 
hound  in  two  quarts  of  water  down  to  one  quart;  strain,  and  add  to  this 
tea  two  cups  of  extracted  honey  and  a  tablespoonful  each  of  lard  and  tar. 
Boil  down  to  a  candy,  but  not  enough  to  make  it  brittle.  Begin  to  eat  this, 
increase  from  a  piece  the  size  of  a  pea  to  as  much  as  can  be  relished.  It 
is  an  excellent  cough  candy,  and  always  gives  relief  in  a  short  time. 

Swiss  Remedy  for  a  Cold  Settling  on  the  Chest. — Boil  a  quart 
of  pure  spring  water ;  add  as  much  camomile  as  can  be  grasped  in  three 
fingers,  and  three  teaspoonfuls  of  honey,  and  cover  tight.  The  vessel  is 


314 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 

>  '  \\v 

then  to  he  quickly  removed  from  the  fire  and  set  on  a  table  at  which  the 
patient  can  comfortably  seat  himself.  Throwing  a  woolen  cloth  over  the 
patient's  head  so  as  to  include  the  vessel,  he  is  to  remove  the  cover  and  inhale 
the  vapors  as  deeply  as  possible  through  the  mouth  and  nose,  occasionally 
stirring  the  mixture  until  it  is  cold,  and  then  retire  to  a  warmed  bed.  In 
obstinate  cases  the  treatment  should  be  repeated  for  three  evenings. 

Honey  Croup  Remedy. — This  is  the  best  known  to  the  medical  profes¬ 
sion,  and  is  an  infallible  remedy  in  all  cases  of  mucus  and  spasmodic  croup : 
Raw  linseed  oil,  2  oz. ;  tincture  of  blood  root,  2  drs.;  tincture  of  lobelia,  2 
drs. ;  tincture  of  aconite,  V2  dr. ;  honey,  4  oz.  Mix.  Dose,  Y2  to  1  teaspoon¬ 
ful  every  15  to  20  minutes,  according  to  the  urgency  of  the  case.  It  is  also 
excellent  in  all  throat  and  lung  troubles  originating  from  a  cold. 

This  is  an  excellent  remedy  in  lung  trouble:  Make  a  strong  decoction 
of  hoarhound  herb  and  sweeten  with  honey.  Take  a  teaspoonful  4  or  5 
times  a  day. 

Honey  on  Frost-bites. — If  your  ears,  fingers,  or  toes  become  frozen 
nothing  will  take  the  frost  out  of  them  sooner  than  if  wrapped  up  in  honey. 
The  swelling  is  rapidly  reduced,  and  no  danger  occurs. 

Honey  and  Cream  for  Freckles. — Have  you  tried  a  mixture  of  hon¬ 
ey  and  cream — half  and  half — for  freckles?  Well,  it’s  a  good  thing.  If  on 
the  hands,  wear  gloves  on  going  to  bed. 

Dr.  Kneipp’s  Honey  Salve. — This  is  recommended  as  an  excellent 
dressing  for  sores  and  boils.  Take  equal  parts  honey  and  flour,  add  a  little 
water,  and  stir  thoroughly.  Don’t  make  too  thin.  Then  apply  as  usual. 

Summer  Honey  Drink. — One  spoonful  of  fruit  juice  and  1  spoonful 
honey  in  V2  glass  water ;  stir  in  as  much  soda  as  will  lie  on  a  silver  dime, 
and  then  stir  in  half  as  much  tartaric  acid,  and  drink  at  once. 

Dr.  Peiro’s  Honey  Salve — for  boils  and  other  diseases  of  a  similar 
charatcer — is  made  by  thoroughly  incorporating  flour  with  honey  until  of  a 
proper  consistency  to  spread  on  cloth.  Applied  over  the  boil  it  hastens 
suppuration,  and  the  early  termination  of  the  painful  lesion. 

Honey  as  a  Laxative. — In  olden  times  the  good  effects  of  honey  as  a 
remedial  agent  were  well  known,  but  of  late  little  use  is  made  thereof.  A 
great  mistake,  surely.  Notably  is  honey  valuable  in  constipation.  Not  as 
an  immediate  cure,  like  some  medicines  which  momentarily  give  relief  only 
to  leave  the  case  worse  than  ever  afterward,  but  by  its  persistent  use  daily, 
bringing  about  a  healthy  condition  of  the  bowels,  enabling  them  to  perform 
properly  their  functions.  Many  suffer  daily  from  an  irritable  condition, 
calling  themselves  nervous,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  not  realizing  that 
constipation  is  at  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  that  a  faithful  daily  use  of 
honey  fairly  persisted  in  would  restore  cheerfulness  of  mind  and  a  healthy 
body. — Le  Progres  Apicole. 

Coughs,  Colds,  Whooping  Cough,  etc. — Fill  a  bell-metal  kettle  with 
hoarhound  leaves  and  soft  water,  letting  it  boil  until  the  liquor  becomes 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


315 


strong — then  strain  through  a  muslin  cloth,  adding  as  much  honey  as  desired 
— then  cook  it  in  the  same  kettle  until  the  water  evaporates,  when  the 
candy  may  be  poured  into  shallow  vessels  and  remain  until  needed,  or  pulled 
like  molasses  candy  until  white. 

Honey  for  Sore  Eyes. — A  neighbor  of  mine  had  inflammation  in  his 
eyes.  He  tried  many  things  and  many  physicians;  was  nothing  better,  but 
rather  grew  worse,  until  he  was  almost  entirely  blind.  His  family  was 
sick,  and  I  presented  him  with  a  pail  of  honey.  What  they  did  not  eat  he 
put  in  his  eyes,  a  drop  or  two  in  each  eye  two  or  three  times  a  day.  In 
three  months’  time  he  was  able  to  read  coarse  print,  and  after  four  months’ 
use  his  eyes  were  almost  as  good  as  ever.  I  have  also  found  honey  good 
for  common  cold-sore  eyes.— JS.  C.  Perry. 


Set  of  Honey- dishes. 


316 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


INDEX 


Academy,  Attends  . 

American  Bee  Journal  . 

Apple-bloom  . 

Asters  . 

Arrangements,  Surplus  . 

Balling  of  Queen . 

Beekeeper,  Assistant  . 

Beekeeping  Sole  Business .... 

Bee-brushes  . 

Bee-dress,  Woman’s . 

Bee-gloves . 

Bee-journals,  Writing  for  .  .  . 

Bee-palace  . 

Bee-smokers  . 

Bee-space,  Correct . 

Bee-strainer  . 

Bee-veil  . 

Bees  all  Removed  at  Once.  .  . 
Bees  do  Not  Prefer  Old  Larvae 
Bees  do  Work  most  Needed.  . 
Bees  Removed  from  Cellar  Quick 
Bees  Shaken  from  Combs.  .  .  . 

Bees  Staying  in  Nuclei . 

Bees  Stick  to  Same  Entrance 
Bees  Using  Young  Larvae  Only 
Bees,  Best  for  Home  Apiary. 
Bees,  Bringing  Home  in  Fall. 
Bees,  Brushing  from  Queen-cells 
Bees,  Carrying  when  Roused. 
Bees,  Cleaning  out  Dead.  .  .  . 

Bees,  Hauling  . 

Bees,  Italian  . 

Bees,  Making  them  Stay . 

Bees,  My  First . 

Bees,  Pounding  off  Combs.  .  . 
Bees,  Removing  from  Cellar. 
Bees,  Robbed,  Joining  Robbers. 
Bees,  Robber,  Watching  for. 

Bees,  Scolding . 

Bees,  Shaking  off . 

Bees,  Smoking  Down . 

Bees,  Sweeping  up  Dead.  .  .  . 

Bees,  “  Taking  up  ”  . 

Bees,  when  to  Put  in  Cellar.  . 

Bees,  why  they  Swarm . 

Bees,  Working  of  Queenless.  . 

Beginning  Again  . 

Behavior  Abnormal  . 

Blast,  Continuous  and  Cut-off 

Bottom-board  . 

Boyhood  Days  . 

Board-bills,  Cheap  . 

Breeding  from  Best . 

Breeding-comb,  Placing  .... 
Breeding-comb,  Trimming  for 

Brood  as  a  Stimulant . 

Brood-combs  as  Baits . 

Brood  in  Sections . 

Brood  to  Top-bar . 

Brood,  Disposal  of  Extra.  .  .  . 
Brood,  Giving  to  Stronger .  .  . 


12 

Brood,  Giving  to  Weaker.  .  .  . 

104 

20 

Brood,  Removing  all  . 

165 

115 

Brood,  Starting  for  Cells.  .  .  . 

226 

113 

Brood,  Two  Frames  Weekly .  . 

165 

118 

Burr-combs  . 

129 

71 

Cages,  One-cent  . 

154 

52 

Cases,  Troublesome  . 

197 

31 

Catnip  . 

113 

69 

Cellar,  Airing  of  . 

39 

216 

Cellar,  Cooling  and  Airing.  .  . 

287 

215 

Cellar,  Fire  for  . 

286 

301 

Cellar,  Furnace  in  . 

291 

15 

Cellar,  Lighting  . 

288 

63 

Cellar,  Opening  at  Night.  .  .  . 

287 

130 

Cellar,  Piling  Hives  in . 

283 

61 

Cellar,  Preparing  . 

282 

213 

Cellar,  Stove  in  . 

285 

41 

Cellar,  "Ventilation  of  . 

286 

223 

Cellar,  Warming  . 

284 

168 

Cell-building,  Bees  for . 

226 

38 

Cells  Destroyed  by  Bees . 

174 

253 

Cells,  Advantage  of  Caging.  . 

239 

224 

Cells,  Appearance  of  Vacated. 

240 

211 

Cells,  Killing  Thoroughly  .  .  . 

180 

228 

Cells,  Stapling  on  Comb . 

224 

41 

Chicago,  Three  Years  in ...  . 

26 

281 

Cincinnati,  Winter  in  . 

25 

239 

Cleaning  Supers  and  T-tins.  . 

133 

284 

Cleats  for  Hives . 

42 

290 

Cleats  on  Smokers  . 

6  t 

45 

Clover,  Giant  White . 

1  13 

302 

Clover,  Sweet  . 

112 

233 

Clover,  White,  Uncertain.  .  .  . 

117 

15 

Clipping,  Advantage  of . 

62 

68 

Clipping,  Implement  for  .... 

57 

38 

College,  Enters . 

12 

207 

College,  Works  Way  through. 

12 

190 

Colonies  for  Go-back  Work.-. 

200 

216 

Colonies  Kept  Queenless  .... 

169 

166 

Colonies  Not  Needing  Watching 

175 

189 

Colonies,  Breaking  up  Faulty 

109 

290 

Colonies,  Crediting  . 

192 

17 

Colonies,  Cross . 

216 

281 

Colonies,  Laying-worker,  Treat- 

163 

ins:  . 

108 

160 

Colonies,  Placing  of . 

40 

302 

Colonies,  Selecting  to  Feed .  . 

272 

172 

Colonies,  Strong  v.  Weak... 

103 

64 

Colonies.  Queenless  . 

107 

43 

Colonies,  Weak,  in  Spring... 

102 

9 

Colonies,  Weighing  . 

273 

14 

Comb  Foundation,  Attempt  at 

21 

220 

Combs  Built  to  Bottom-bars.  . 

80 

229 

Combs  of  Honey,  Reserve.  .  .  . 

274 

228 

Combs,  Mending  . 

73 

107 

Conditions,  Unfavorable  .... 

292 

31 

Contents  of  Tool-basket  .... 

70 

113 

Cork  Chips  for  Watering.  .  .  . 

101 

83 

Covers,  Tin,  Dead-air  Space. 

86 

128 

Covers,  Zinc  . 

88 

103 

Crock,  Watering  . 

100 

FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


317 


Crop,  Total,  Rather  than  per 


Colony  .  34 

Cucumbers  .  114 


Demaree  Plan  .  185 

Dequeening  Treatment  .  180 

Diarrhoea,  Heat  for  .  286 

Digression  .  51 

Discouragement  .  31 

Division-boards  .  102 

Doolittle’s  Plan  .  156 

Dress  for  Hot  Weather  .  ...  216 

Education,  Early  .  9 

Eggs,  Destroying  .  176 

Eggs,  Looking  for  .  225 

Encouragement  .  32 

End-spacing  .  78 

Entrance-closers  .  46 

Entrance,  Size  of .  42 

Entries,  Record  .  110 

Even,  Getting  .  19 

Excluder,  None  under  Sections  131 
Excluder  Plan  of  Treatment.  177 
Experimenting  on  Large  Scale  131 
Experimenting,  Pleasure  of..  132 
Extractor,  Peabody  .  23 


Failures,  Some .  178 

Feeder,  Original  Miller .  99 

Feeder,  Improved  Miller  ....  99 

Feeder,  Crock-and-plate .  99 

Feeding  Early  for  Winter.  .  .  .  270 

Feeding  in  Fall  for  Spring.  .  272 

Feeding  in  June .  98 

Feeding  to  Fill  Combs .  96 

Feeding,  Fall  .  269 

Feeding,  Outdoor  .  94 

Feeding,  Stimulative  .  95 

Feeding,  Wholesale  .  97 

Frame,  Langstroth,  Adopted.  .  22 

Frame,  Miller .  76 

Frame,  18x9,  Adopted .  22 

Frames  Diagonal  in  Hive...  70 

Frames,  8  versus  10 .  303 

Frames,  Loose-hanging  .  75 

Frames,  Self-spacing  .  75 

Frames,  Taking  out .  55 

Frames,  Using  Empty  .  179 

Frames,  Wide  .  30 

Foul  Brood,  European .  295 

Foundation,  Cutting  .  138 

Fuel,  Green  .  66 


Garret,  Honey  in .  262 

Glue,  Brittle' .  198 

Go-backs  .  200 

Goldenrod  .  113 

Goods,  Using  Standard .  79 

Grass,  Killing  .  Ill 


Harvest,  Clover,  Close  of .  .  .  .  187 

Harvest,  Harbingers  of .  Ill 

Hauling,  Preparations  for  .  .  45 

Heartsease  .  113 

Hive,  Jumbo  .  184 


Hive,  Nucleus  .  231 

Hive,  Opening  .  55 

Hives  and  Frames .  74 

Hives  in  Pairs .  89 

Hives,  Carrying  in  .  282 

Hives,  Changes  in  .  74 

Hives,  Changing  from  Double 

to  Single  .  280 

Hives,  Changing  from  Single 

to  Double  . 279 

Hives,  Cleaning  .*. .  54 

Hives,  Double,  Advantage  of  278 
Hives,  Double,  for  Winter.  .  .  277 

Hives,  Groups  of  Four .  89 

Hives,  Nucleus,  Contents  of.  .  233 

Hives,  Numbering .  47 

Hives,  Regular,  for  Nuclei...  234 

Hive-covers  .  86 

Hive-dummy  .  84 

Hive-seat,  .  51 

Hive-stands  . 88,302 

Hive-tools  .  53 

Honey  as  a  Food .  305 

Honey  in  Cellar  with  Furnace  262 

Honey  for  Remedies  .  312 

Honey  Recipes . 308,  312 

Honey,  Adulteration  of .  307 

Honey,  Care  of  .  307 

Honey,  Comb  v.  Extracted.  ..  303 

Honey,  Comb,  Feeding  Sec¬ 
tions  of  .  96 

Honey,  Draining  Extracted  .  .  264 

Honey,  First  Section .  30 

Honey,  Granulated  . 263,  308 

Honey,  Late .  188 

Honey,  Marketing  .  265 

Honey,  Ripening  .  264 

Honey,  Surplus  Combs  of .  .  .  .  96 

Honey,  Various  Uses  for.  .  .  .  306 

Honey,  Where  to  Keep  .  261 

Honey-board,  Heddon  .  129 

Honey-plants,  Various  .  112 

Honey-room  .  194 

Honey-show  . ’ .  261 

Improvement,  Working  for.  .  .  79 

Increase  by  Taking  to  Out- 

apiary  .  247 

Increase  of  9  to  56 .  248 

Increase  without  Nuclei .  252 

Increase,  Artificial  .  246 

Increase,  Nucleus  Plan  of.  .  .  251 

Increase,  Too  Rapid .  23 

Italianizing  with  Natural 

Swarm-ng  .  244 

Italians  from  Adam  Grimm.  .-  27 

Italians,  My  First  .  19 

June,  Feeding  in  .  98 

Labor,  Division  of .  141 

Life  in  Country,  Back  to.  .  .  .  28 

Linden  .  113 

Location,  Choice  of  .  302 

Market,  Home  .  267 

Markets,  Distant  .  268 


318 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


Meal,  Feeding  .  92 

Medicine,  Practice  of .  14 

Medicine,  Study  of .  11 

Memoranda  of  1901  .  .  ; .  117 

Memoranda  of  1882  .  116 

Mice  in  Bee-cellars  .  289 

Nails,  Spacing  .  77 

Non-swarming  Preferred  to 

Forced  .  169 

Non-swarming,  working  To-  . 

ward  .  178 

Nuclei  in  Fall .  275 

Nuclei,  Baby  .  233 

Nuclei,  Chance  for .  159 

Nuclei,  Several  in  Hive .  231 

Nuclei,  Time  to  Start .  222 

Nuclei,  Uniting  .  276 

Nucleus  Built  without  Help..  251 
Nucleus  Given  to  Swarm.  ...  162 

Nucleus  to  Prevent  Swarming  174 
Numbers,  Order  of  .  48 

Office,  Author’s  .  .  .  : .  804 

Overhauling,  Spring  .  51 

Overhauling,  Subsequent  ...  106 

Overstocking  .  118 

Parents  .  10 

Pasturage,  Artificial  .  114 

Pencil,  Place  for  .  110 

Piles  a  Target  for  Robbers.  .  .  208 

Piles  in  Late  Summer .  208 

Piles,  Non-swarming  .  164 

Plan,  Put-up  .  157 

Plan,  Varying  .  161 

Playing  Bees  and  Robbers.  ..  27 0 

Push-board  . .  195 

Pollen  in  Sections  .  133 

Pollen,  Substitutes  for .  92 

Queen  Balled  by  Bees .  71 

Queen  Reared  in  “Put-up”.  173 

Queen,  Aids  in  Finding .  59 

Queen,  Best,  in  Nucleus .  225 

Queen,  Catching  .  60 

Queen,  Clipping .  62 

Queen,  Finding  .  58 

Queen,  Putting  down  .  158 

Queen,  Replacing  with  Better  181 

Queen,  Room  for  .  127 

Queen,  Watching  for .  57 

Queen-cage  .  234 

Queen-cells  Destroyed  by  Bees  158 
Queen-cells  Destroyed  to  Pre¬ 
vent  Swarming  .  180 

Queen-cells,  Brood  for .  227 

Queen-cells,  Distributing  .  .  .  238 

Queen-cells,  Looking  for  ....  176 

Queen-cells,  Placing  .  224 

Queen-nursery;  Advantages  of.  242 

Queen-nursery,  Miller  .  240 

Queen-rearing  .  216 

Queen-rearing,  Conditions  for  220 
Queens  for  Out-apiaries  ....  245 


Queens  Reared  with  Laying 

Queen  .  221 

Queens,  Confining  Young.  ...  171 

Queens,  Drone-laying  .  109 

Queens,  History  of  .  49 

Queens,  Introducing  .  245 

Queens,  Keeping  Caged .  171 

Queens,  Quality  of  .  243 

Queens*  Young,  andi  Swarming  165 

Record-book  .  48 

Record,  Advantage  of  Book...  50 

Records,  Making  .  72 

Reducing  to  One  Story .  128 

Risking  in  Good  Season  ....  147 

Robbers,  when  Troublesome.  .  190 

Robbers,  Watching  for .  190 

Robbers,  Losing  the .  211 

Robbers,  Leaving  Something  for  204 

Robber-cloth  .  201 

Robber-cloth,  Quick  Covering 

with  .  201 

Robbing  is  Fault  of  Beekeeper  205 
Robbing  Started  by  Feeding.  206 
Robbing  Stopped  with  Wet  Hay  206 

Robbing,  Bad  Case  of .  208 

Robbing,  Signs  of  .  211 

Root,  A.  I.,  visit  to .  21 

Saltpeter-rags  .  67 

Season  of  1863  .  18 

Season  of  1903  .  123 

Season  of  1913  Phenomenal.  .  125 

Seasons,  Change  of  .  37 

Seat,  T-super  .  53 

Sections  . 118 

Sections  in  Go-backs  .  200 

Sections  Needed  per  Colony.  .  125 

Sections  Packed  in  Car .  266 

Sections  Packed  in  Shipping- 

cases  .  260 

Sections  Prepared  in  Advance  1 22 
Sections,  Bees  Emptying  ....  256 

Sections,  Blocking  up  Supers  of  199 

Sections,  Cleaning  . _.  .  257 

Sections,  Dauby,  Bees  Cleaning  257 

Sections,  Feeder  .  255 

Sections,  Final  Scraping  ....  259 

Sections,  Final  Taking  off.  .  .  254 

Sections,  Folding  .  137 

Sections,  Fumigating  .  .  .  .199,  254 
Sections,  Getting  Bees  out  of  188 
Sections,  Loading  when  Ship¬ 
ping  .  266 

Sections,  Putting  in  Supers.  .  142 

Sections,  Removing  from  Super  196 
Sections,  Removing  Unfinished  199 

Sections,  Sorting  .  255 

Sections,  Taking  off .  186 

Sections,  Tallying  .  192 

Seasons,  Uncertainty  of  ....  146 

Sections,  Unmarketable .  257 

Sections,  Wetting .  135 

Sections,  White,  Thick  Top- 
bars  for  .  130 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES  319 


Selection,  Importance  of .  219 

Separators,  Putting  in  .  144 

Separators,  Top  .  144 

Shade  . . .  90 

Shade,  Movable  .  91 

Shaking  by  Doolittle  Plan...  68 

Shaking  by  Pendulum  .  68 

Shop  for  Bee- work .  127 

Shipping-cases,  Kind  of .  260 

Smoker-fuel  .  65 

Smoker-kindling  .  66 

Smoking  Bees  Down .  189 

Space,  Large,  for  Middle  Frame  232 

Spacing,  End .  78 

Spacing-nails  .  77 

Splints,  Foundation .  81 

Sponge-bath  at  Noon .  217 

Springs,  Super .  121 

Starters.  Putting  in  Sections.  142 

Starters,  Size  of  .  137 

Stings,  Removing  .  215 

Stings,  Protection  from .  212 

Stock,  Beginner  Improving.  .  2T4 

Stores,  Choosing  .  273 

Stores,  Rapid  Consumption  of  95 

Stories,  Piles  of .  185 

Story,  Giving  Second  .  105 

Super  Room,  Guessing  about.  147 

Stiper,  Heddon  .  36 

Super,  T .  36 

Super-filler  .  142 

Supers  for  Out-apiaries .  148 

Supers  of  Sections,  Preparing  133 

Supers  Standing  Open .  189 

Supers,  Empty,  on  Top .  150 

Supers,  Giving  Additional  .  .  .  146 

Supers,  Hauling  from  Out- 

apiary  .  193 

Supers,  Loading  on  Wagon.  .  194 

Supers,  T  .  119 

Supers,  Time  to  Give .  116 

Supers,  Top  Ventilation  of .  .  .  121 

Supers,  Wheeling  in  .  193 

Supers,  where  to  Add .  149 

Swarm  Prevention  NotSuccess .  170 

Swarm,  Finding  its  Queen.  .  .  155 

Swarm,  Shaken,  without  In¬ 
crease  .  185 


Swarming  Galore  .  172 

Swarming  Not  Desirable.  .  .  .  151 

Swarming,  Forced  .  166 

Swarming,  Forced,  Disadvan¬ 
tage  of  .  168 

Swarming,  Forced,  Time  of.  .  167 

Swarming,  Prevention  of  .  .  .  162 

Swarming,  Troubled  with  ...  28 

Swarming,  Ventilation  to  Pre¬ 
vent  . 185 

Swarms  Not  Desirable .  162 

Swarms,  Accidental .  186 

Swarms,  Bad  Manners  of.  .  .  .  163 

Swarms,  Management  of  ....  152 

Swarms,  Watching  for .  152 

Syrup,  Feeding  .  270 

System,  Lack  of .  101 

Teaches  and  Travels  .  14 

Temperature  and  Ventilation.  41 

Tent-escape,  Miller  . 190,202 

Thieves  Always  Thieves  ....  204 

Tool-basket  .  69 

Top-bars,  Thick  . 36,130 

Unqueening  to  Start  Cells.  .  .  222 

Ventilation  and  Room .  163 

Ventilator,  Sub-earth .  289 

Wagon  for  Plauling .  45 

Watering-crock  .  100 

Wax-extractor,  Dripping-pan.  299 

Wax-extractor,  Solar  .  299 

Wax-press,  Steam  .  299 

Wintering  Upside  down  ....  17 

Wintering,  Bad  .  293 

Wintering,  Disastrous  .  24 

Wintering,  Good  .  294 

Wintering,  Improved  .  29 

Wintering,  Warm  Spells  in..  286 

Work  for  Winter  .  300 

Work,  Preliminary  .  174 

Workers,  Laying  .  108 

Year,  Bad  One .  34 

Year,  Good  One  .  35 

Yield,  Average  .  33 


320 


FIFTY  YEARS  AMONG  THE  BEES 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Alfalfa  .  143 

Balled  Queen  .  87 

Bee- dress  .  227 

Bees  Playing  .  225 

Bee  Working  on  Red  Clover.  .  199 

Bottom-rack  .  37 

Brood  of  Laying  Workers...  173 

Busy  at  the  Typewriter .  300 

Caged  Queen-cell  .  254 

Carrying  with  Rope . 25,  29 

Catching  the  Queen  .  63 

Catnip  .  153 

Caught  .  65 

Cleater  Smoker  .  221 

Clipping  the  Queen  .  71 

Coggshall  Brush  .  62 

Colonies  Home  from  Out-api¬ 
aries  .  281 

Colonies  Intended  for  Out-api¬ 
aries  .  33 

Colony  Treated  for  Swarming  191 

Colossal  Ladino  Clover .  145 

Comb  for  Queen-cells  .  257 

Comb  for  Queen-cells  Trimmed 

. 239,  246 

Comb  Resting  Diagonal  in  Hive  106 

Combs  of  Brood .  98 

Combs  of  Honey  . .  94 

Crock-and-plate  Feeder  .  132 

Cutting  Foundation  .  177 

Dripping-pan  Wax-extractor.  .  283 

Emptying  Out  Slumgum .  288 

Entrance-block  .  40 

Entrance-closers  .  50 

Feeder  Sections  .  261 

Field  of  Raspberries  in  Bloom  138 

Folding  Sections  .  169 

Foundation  with  Splint  Sup¬ 
ports  .  90 

German  Steam  Wax-press.  .  .  307 

Heartsease  .  164 

Heddon  Slat  Honey-board.  .  .  23 

Heddon  Super  .  18 

Hive  Closed  for  Hauling.  .  .  .  205 

Hive-dummy  .  129 

Hive-seat  with  Hand-hole.  ...  59 

Hive-seat  with  Strap-handle..  56 

Hiv  el-stand  .  115 

Hive-staples  .  35 

Home  from  the  Out-apiary.  .  .  74 

Home  of  the  Author .  11 

Honey-dishes  .  315 

Honey-show  .  277 

Improved  Miller  Queen-cages.  253 

Jumbo  Hive  .  192 

Lifting  Off  the  Super .  217 

Linden  or  Basswood  Blossoms  148 

Little  ' Work-table  .  179 

Load  of  Forty  Supers .  187 

Miller  Cages  .  235 

Miller  Feeder  Dissected .  124 

Miller  Frame  .  258 


Miller  Queen-nursery  .  241 

Miller  Tent-escape  .  207 

Movable  Shade  .  171 

Muench  Hive-tool .  61 

Nail-boxes  .  291 

Nucleus  Bottom-board .  248 

Nucleus  Hives  .  250 

One-cent  Queen-cage  .  189 

Original  Miller  Feeder .  119 

Painted  Tin  Hive-covers .  109 

Part  of  Home  Apiary  (from 

Northwest)  .  100 

Part  of  Home  Apiary  (from 

Southwest)  .  104 

Peabody  Honey-extractor  ...  13 

Pile  of  Stories  .  195 

Philo  Carrying  a  Hive .  32 

Pounding  Bees  off  Comb....  78 

Push-board  .  213 

Pushing  Sections  out  of  Super  215 

Putting  Foundation  in  Sections  235 

Queen-cell  Stapled  on  Comb.  .  230 

Queen-excluder  .  167 

Rack  for  Hauling  Bees .  46 

Ready  for  Clipping  .  67 

Record-books  .  54 

Robber-bees  .  223 

Robber-cloth  .  210 

Rows  of  Lindens  in  Bloom.  .  .  150 

Scraping  Sections  .  267 

Second-class  Sections  .  271 

Sections  Ready  for  Casing.  .  .  269 

Sections  Wedged  for  Scraping  265 

Set  of  Honey-dishes .  315 

Shop  .  202 

Starters  in  Breeding-frame.  .  232 

Super-filler  .  182 

Supers  of  Sections  Blocked  up  219 

Swarm  Dumped  before  Hive.  137 

Sweet  Clover  .  140 

Three  Asters  .  171 

Tool-basket  .  85 

Top  and  Bottom-starter  in 

Section  .  175 

T  Super  .  20 

Twelve-section  Shipping-case.  274 

Twenty-four-section  Shipping- 

case  .  276 

Two  Asters . 159,  161 

Two  Carrying  with  Rope.  ...  26 

Unmarketable  Sections .  263 

Vacated  Queen-cells  .  256 

Vase  of  Goldenrod .  155 

Wagon-load  of  Bees .  44 

Watering-crock .  134 

Weed-brushes  .  80 

Weighing  Colonies  .  278 

Wheeling  Load  of  Supers.  .  .  .  209 

Wide  Frame  .  16 

Woman’s  Bee-dress  .  229 

Zinc  Hive-covers  .  Ill 

Wax-press,  Screwing  Down.  .  285 


BOOKS  ON  BEEKEEPING 

The  beekeeper  who  would  be  down  to  date  and  progressive  will  find 
in  a  recount,  of  the  experiences  of  others  the  very  suggestions  he  needs  for 
saving  time  and  money.  Very  few  other  occupations  have  been  blest  with 
so  many  well-written  books  covering  the  pursuit  in  its  many  different  phases. 
To  beekeepers  are  offered  authoritative  works  at  a  minimum  of  expense, 
and  the  opportunity  to  gain  knowledge  in  this  satisfying  way  should  not  be 
neglected. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  wish  to  purchase  other  books  on  beekeeping 
— covering  the  subject  in  a  general  way  or  some  phase  of  the  work  in 
particular — we  have  compiled  the  following  list.  These  books  may  be  had 
at  the  prices  named  from  The  A.  I.  Root  Co.,  Medina,  Ohio,  the  publishers 
of  the  volume  in  which  this  announcement  appears,  or  from  dealers  in  bee¬ 
keepers’  supplies  everywhere. 

THE  ABC  AND  X  Y  Z  OF  BEE  CULTURE 

A.  I.  and  E.  R.  Root.  The  latest  edition  of 
this  work  is  the  most  complete  of  any  bee-book 
that  has  ever  been  issued  in  the  English  language. 

While  it  is  for  the  beginner,  it  may  be  read  with 
profit  by  the  advanced  beeekeeper.  Its  sale  is  so 
large  that  neither  time  nor  money  is  spared  to 
keep  this  book  fully  abreast  with  the  times.  In 
the  latest  edition  some  scientific  and  technical 
matter  as  well  as  the  practical  has  been  added  to 
its  pages.  It  has  been  most  carefully  edited  and 
revised.  Its  authors  and  publishers  feel  that, 
more  than  ever,  it  is  a  safe  and  reliable  guide  to 
beekeeping.  Nearly  150,000  copies  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish  language  alone  have  been  sold.  It  has  been 
translated  into  French,  German,  and  Spanish. 

In  the  last,  edition  there  is  a  large  number  of 
half-tone  reproductions  from  what  might  be 
called  moving-pictures,  showing  various  steps  in 
the  processes  for  handling  bees.  While  a  detailed 
description  goes  with  the  separate  views  showing 
each  step,  yet  one  can  almost  learn  how  to  handle 
bees  by  simply  looking  at  the  series  of  photographs. 

Under  the  head  of  “  Frames,  to  Manipulate,”  for 
example,  there  are  a  large  number  of  new  engrav- 
ings  that  show  not  only  the  method  of  handling 
frames  but  handling  hives  and  bees  in  such  a  wav 
as  to  do  the  work  with  the  greatest  economy  of  labor,  with  few  or  no  stings, 
and  with  but  little  fatigue. 

The  new  methods  of  queen-rearing  have  been  carefully  reviewed,  and 
the  main  points  incorporated  in  the  new  edition,  so  that  the  practical  bee¬ 
keeper  who  possesses  a  copy  will  have  the  best  ideas  of  the  subject  com 
stantly  by  his  side  for  reference. 

The  new  methods  of  wax-production  are  treated  in  an  exhaustive 
fashion,  and  as  this  subject  is  now  of  more  importance  than  formerly,  more 
space  has  been  devoted  to  it. 

The  new  power-driven  automatic  extractors  are  amply  illustrated  and 
described.  The  subject  of  diseases  has  received  entirely  new  treatment  to 
keep  pace  with  new  discoveries  of  the  last  few  years.  The  laws  relating 
to  bees  have  for  the  first  time  received  full  treatment.  No  other  bee-book 
treats  of  this  very  important  subject.  The  subject  of  swarm  control  has 
received  special  attention.  Honey,  sugar,  nectar,  and  glucose,  written  up 
by  a  United  States  government  chemist,  are  carefully  defined  in  accordance 
with  the  demands  of  our  new  pure-food  laws. 

The  authors  have  traveled  thousands  of  miles  in  the  United  States, 
with  notebook  and  camera,  and  have  endeavored  to  incorporate  in  the  pages 
of  this  volume  all  the  latest  and  best  practices  known  to  the  professional 
and  amateur  beekeepers.  There  is  scarcely  a  practical  method  or  device 
known  to  the  beekeepers  of  the  country  that  is  not  here  described.  Be¬ 
sides  the  immense  amount  of  valuable  material  gathered  through  extensive 
travel,  the  work  has  been  enriched  with  the  choicest  material  that  has 


appeared  in  the  columns  of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  an  illustrated 
semi-monthly  by  the  same  authors. 

Besides  the  matter  relating  to  methods  and  devices,  the  book  contains 
a  complete  dictionary  of  apicultural  terms,  and  a  picture-gallery  comprising 
a  list  of  the  choicest  illustrations  that  have  appeared  in  Gleanings  in  Bee 
Culture  for  the  last  ten  years. 

Prices,  cloth  bound,  $2.00;  half  leather,  $2.75.  The  edition  bound 
in  half  leather  includes  the  bee-models,  with  key,  bound  in. 

FOREIGN  EDITIONS  OF  THE  A  B  C. — Carefully  translated  editions 
of  this  complete  cyclopedia  of  beekeeping  may  now  be  had  in  the  German, 
French,  and  Spanish  languages.  The  German  edition  (ABC  DER  BIE- 
NENZUCHT)  sells  for  $2.00  in  paper  and  $2.50  in  cloth  binding.  In 
French  (A  B  C  de  L’ APICULTURE)  may  be  had  in  cloth  for  $2.00.  In 
Spanish  (El  A  B  C  y  X  Y  Z  de  la  APICULTURA),  $2.50. 

OTHER  PRACTICAL  WORKS  ON  BEES 

The  books  mentioned  on  this  page  are  all  devoted  to>  practical  bee 
culture,  although  a  few  of  them,  as  will  be  noted  by  their  descriptions, 
have  more  or  less  scientific  value.  A  somewhat  careful  reading  of  the 
descriptions  below  will  undoubtedly  show  any  one  just  what  book  will  suit 
him  best.  If  several  books  are  to  be  selected  covering  a  wide  range  of 
subjects,  the  following  list  may  be  helpful  in  deciding  what  you  want:  A  B 
C  and  X  Y  Z  of  Bee  Culture  (see  preceding  page),  Langstroth  on  the 
Honeybee,  Advanced  Bee  Culture.  Or  this  list:  How  to  Keep  Bees,  Forty 
Years  among  the  Bees,  A  Modern  Bee  Farm. 

Langstroth  on  the  Honeybee. — By  C.  P.  Dadant.  The  bee¬ 
keeper  who  does  not  like  this  book  is  hard  to  suit.  The  present  volume  is 
termed  the  “  Twentieth  Century  Edition,”  and  contains  a  vast  fund  of 
information  on  all  subjects  relating  to  practical  bee  culture.  It  has  long 
been  recognized  as  a  standard  work,  and  should  be  found  in  the  library 
of  every  progressive  beekeeper.  It  is  well  illustrated,  and  has  575  pages. 
Price  by  mail,  $1.25;  by  freight  or  express,  15  cts.  less. 

Fifty  Years  among  the  Bees. — By  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller.  This  is 

another  standard  book  of  300  pages  and  100  illustrations,  written  by  a 
specialist  with  an  experience  of  more  than  fifty  years.  The  author  has 
read  not  only  all  of  the  literature  on  bees  published  in  this  country,  but 
much  of  that  published  in  Europe,  and  is  a  recognized  authority.  Price 
by  mail,  $1.00;  by  freight  or  express,  10  cts.  less. 

Manual  of  the  Apiary. — By  Prof.  A.  J.  Cook.  This  is  a  very 
complete  treatise  on  bees  and  beekeeping,  and  is  particularly  valuable  where 
one  is  interested  in  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  bee,  which  has  beep 
very  completely  covered  in  this  work.  It  is  also  valuable  for  its  chapter  op 
honey-plants,  or  bee  botany;  540  pages  with  good  illustrations.  Price  by 
mail,  $1.15;  15  cts.  less  by  freight  or  express. 

Doolittle’s  Queen-rearing. — This  is  practically  the  only  com¬ 
prehensive  book  on  queen-rearing  now  in  print.  It  is  looked  upon  by 
many  as  the  foundation  of  modern  methods  of  raising  queens  wholesale. 
Mr.  Doolittle  has  an  entertaining  way  of  writing  on  bee  subjects  which 
enables  his  readers  to  follow  him  with  pleasure,  even  if  they  never  intend 
to  raise  queens  at  all.  .  Cloth  bound,  124  pages,  $1.00  postpaid;  by  freight 
or  express,  5  cents  less. 

Quinby’s  New  Beekeeping. — By  L.  C.  Root.  A  modern 
edition  of  that  early  volume  on  bees  entitled  “  Quinby’s  Mysteries,”  revised 
some  years  ago  by  a  well-known  beekeeper,  a  son-in-law  of  the  original 
writer.  Mr.  Quinby  was  a  practical  beekeeper,  and  greatly  assisted  Mr. 
Langstroth  in  laying  the  foundation  of  American  apiculture.  For  this 
reason  it  should  be  read  by  all  beekeepers  who  want  to  know  of  the  early 
work  in  beekeeping.  Cloth  bound,  270  pages,  by  mail,  $1.00;  by  freight 
or  express,  10  cents  less. 

Advanced  Bee  Culture. — By  W.  Z.  Hutchinson;  Revised  Edi¬ 
tion.  This  is  a  very  unusual  work — we  might  say  indispensable  to  any  one 


Who  is  thinking  seriously  of  becoming  a  specialist  in  apiculture.  The 
author  himself  has  been  a  specialist  and  in  closest  touch  with  with  these 
methods;  and  nothing  now  in  print  could  he  of  more  benefit  to  the  practical 
beekeeper  than  this  book.  It  is  fully  illustrated,  well  printed,  and  is  sure 
to  please.  Price  by  mail,  $1.00 ;  10  cents  less  by  freight  or  express. 

How  to  Keep  Bees. — By  Anna  Botsford  Comstock.  This  is 

a  charmingly  written  maunal  for  amateurs,  describing  in  the  clearest  lan¬ 
guage  all  necessary  details.  The  authoress  combines  enthusiasm,  literary 
ibility,  and  a  knowledge  of  beekeeping  into  a  goodly  volume.  Having  her¬ 
self  made  a  start  in  the  bee  business,  she  fully  appreciates  the  perplexities 
of  the  situation,  and  makes  provision  accordingly.  The  book  is  well  suited 
to  the  wants  of  the  suburbanite  who  wishes  a  hobby  which  will  give  some¬ 
thing  by  way  of  return  for  labor  and  capital  expended,  or  those  who  wish  to 
keep  only  a  small  apiary  either  for  pleasure  or  profit.  If  there  is  any 
better  book  than  this  for  the  purpose  indicated,  we  do  not  know  of  it.  Cloth 
bound,  228  pages,  $1.00  postpaid;  by  freight  or  express,  10  cts.  less. 

Biggie  Bee-book. — This  is  a  very  neat  cloth-bound  book, 
well  printed  and  illustrated.  It  is  5*4  by  4  inches,  by  %  inch  thick — just- 
right  to  carry  in  the  pocket.  It  is  just  the  thing  for  the  busy  man  who 
would  like  to  get  a  birdseye  view  of  beekeeping,  and  who  has  not  the  time 
to  read  the  more  comprehensive  works.  The  book  is  boiled  down,  containing 
only  the  best  practices  known.  Price  by  mail,  50  cts.;  5  cts.  less  if  sent 
by  freight  or  express. 

A  Modern  Bee-Farm. — By  Simmons,  is  one  of  those  books 
which  will  caiise  you  to  sit  up  and  take  notice  if  you  are  a  real  live  bee¬ 
keeper  with  lots  for  formic  acid  in  your  blood.  The  author  is  an  English 
beekeeper  of  note,  who  not  only  knows  and  understands  bee  culture  in  his 
own  home  land,  but  is  as  well  an  earnest  student  of  American  apicultural 
methods.  He  is  not  very  orthodox  in  his  views,  but  his  book  is  all  the 
better  for  that,  seeing  he  wants  to  take  us  out  of  the  ruts.  You  can  read 
the  book  right  straight  through,  as  it  runs  along  like  a  narrative  or  a 
novel.  Cloth  bound,  430  pages,  1904;  price  $2.00  postpaid;  by  freight  or 
express,  15  cts.  less. 

British  Beekeepers’  Guide  Book. — By  T.  W.  Cowan.  This 

is  the  leading  English  work  on  practical  beekeeping  in  England,  and  as 
such  has  had  an  immense  sale.  The  work  is  condensed  into  179  pages, 
handsomely  bound  and  well  illustrated.  Price  $1.00  by  mail;  by  freight  or 
express,  5  cts.  less. 

The  Irish  Bee-Guide. — By  Digges,  is,  as  its  name  implies,  a 

guide  to  the  beekeeping  industry  of  Ireland.  This  is  a  closely  printed,  well- 
bound  book  of  220  pages  with  excellent  illustrations  on  fine  paper.  It 
would  be  useful  to  any  one  who  wishes  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
status  of  beekeeping  in  the  old  land.  Price  $1.00  postpaid;  by  freight  or 
express,  5  cts.  less. 

The  Honeybee. — By  T.  W.  Cowan.  A  complete  scientific 

treatise  on  the  honeybee,  its  natural  history,  anatomy,  and  physiology,  by 
one  of  the  foremost  writers  on  apiculture.  More  than  200  pages — nearly 
150  illustrations.  Bound  in  substantial  cloth,  $1.00  postpaid. 

Wax  Craft. — By  Thomas  William  Cowan.  No  beekeeper  of 
any  pretensions  can  afford  to  be  without  one  book  on  beeswax.  This  is 
the  only  book  on  the  subject  in  English.  Price  by  mail,  $1.00;  by  freight 
or  express,  5  cts.  less. 

These  books  may  be  obtained  from  the  publishers  of  this  volume  or 
from  dealers  in  beekeepers’  supplies  everywhere. 

POPULAR  WORKS  ON  BEE  CULTURE 

The  following  books  are  for  the  most  part  by  writers  of  well-known 
literary  ability,  and  are  very  interesting  indeed,  and  are  greatly  valued  by 
beekeepers  and  others  for  their  literary  merit,  and  the  popular  style  in 
which  beekeeping  is  depicted,  and  we  are  very  glad  to  have  the  opportunity 


to  offer  them  to  beekeepers  and  others.  The  description  of  each  work  will 
give  a  fair  idea  of  the  same,  but  a  pamphlet  giving  an  extended  view  of 
these  and  the  practical  books  on  bee  culture  listed  in  the  preceding  columns 
will  be  sent  on  application. 

The  Honey-makers. — By  Miss  Margaret  W.  Morley.  This  is 

the  story  of  the  life  of  the  bee,  told  in  very  interesting  style — how  it  lives, 
gathers  honey,  and  all  about  it.  While  clothing  the  general  subject  with 
an  air  of  poetry,  it  seems  to  be  entirely  within  the  limits  of  known  facts 
while  attempting  to  deal  with  them.  We  believe  it  will  give  all  thoughtful 
beekeepers  a  greater  liking  for  their  business  to  read  it.  Probably  it  has 
more  to  do  with  the  curious  traditions  connected  with  bees  than  any  other 
book  of  the  kind.  Price  $1.50  postpaid. 

The  Life  of  the  Bee. — By  Maeterlinck.  This  is  a  master¬ 
piece  of  fine  writing  by  a  modern  Shakespeare.  The  words  fly  from  the 
pen  of  this  writer  like  sparks  from  a  blacksmith’s  anvil,  the  result  being  a 
glorification  of  the  honeybee.  Maeterlinck  is  considered  by  many  to  be  the 
finest  writer  now  living,  aiid  anything  from  him  is  sure  to  be  worth  reading. 
He  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  familiar  with  beekeeping,  but  the  truth  about 
bees  does  not  interest  him  so  much  as  the  romance  of  the  queen  and  the 
drone  and  the  swarming  instinct.  The  book  itself  is  well  bound  and  beau¬ 
tifully  printed.  Price  $1.40  postpaid. 

The  Bee  People. — A  book  on  bees,  especially  for  children, 
from  the  pen  of  Margaret  W.  Morley.  Including  its  elegant  illustrations, 
it  is  in  some  respects  the  prettiest  bee-book  in  existence.  It  has  177  pages, 
very  coarse  print,  the  reading  being  ingeniously  interwoven  with  the  illus¬ 
trations  showing  the  parts  of  the  bee.  The  story  of  bee-life  is  told  in  a 
fascinating  manner,  and  is  well  calculated  to  get  the  casual  reader,  as 
well  as  children,  interested  in  this  useful  insect.  The  cuts  go  just  enough 
into  detail  to  explain  fully  the  lesson  taught,  without  confusing  the  mind 
with  other  things.  We  think  the  book  well  worthy  a  place  in  every  beekeep¬ 
er’s  home.  Fittingly  designed  cover.  Pric  $1.50  postpaid. 

The  Lore  of  the  Honeybee. — By  Tickner  Edwards.  A  fine 

work  for  those  who  desire  an  interesting  book  about  bees.  Does  not  deal 
with  practical  details,  but  gives  valuable  information  about  bees  in  general. 
Very  readable  and  entertaining.  Price  $2.00  postpaid. 

THE  GLEANINGS  LIBRARY 

So  called  because  of  great  popularity  of  the  following  books  when 
offered  in  combination  with  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture. 

Alexander’s  Writings  on  Practical  Bee  Culture. — By  the  late 

E.  W.  Alexander,  who  conducted  the  largest  apiary  in  the  United  States. 
A  wonderfully  interesting  discussion  of  beekeeping  in  its  broadest  phases. 
Any  one  can  understand  it.  35  chapters,  95  pages.  Paper  bound,  50  cts. 
postpaid. 

A  Year’s  Work  in  an  Out-apiary. — By  G.  M.  Doolittle. 

Packed  full  of  most  valuable  information  ever  given  to  beekeepers.  A  prac¬ 
tical  and  interesting  book  by  a  very  successful  apiarist.  Sale  has  reached 
nearly  5000  copies.  60  pages,  paper  bound,  50  cts.  postpaid. 

The  Townsend  Bee  Book. — By  E.  D.  Townsend.  Written  by 

one  of  the  most  progressive,  successful,  and  extensive  beekeepers  in  the 
United  States,  this  new  book  has  been  in  great  demand  from  the  day  of  its 
announcement.  Tells  how  to  make  a  start  with  bees,  and  will  greatly 
benefit  beginners  and  experienced  beekeepers.  90  pages,  paper  bound, 
50  cts.  postpaid. 

In  combination  £F  cartings  in  Bee  Culture  for  One  Year 
either  of  the  above  books  in  '.y  be  had  for  the  price  of  Gleanings 

alone,  $1  00.  Foreign  post  go  60  cts.  extra.  Canadian  postage 
30  cts.  extra. 


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